My Fairy Tale
by CarolOfTheBells333
Summary: Gabriella is a good girl with a big heart and Troy is a notorious bad boy with several rumors circling around him. How do they meet? A project, of course. Gabriella has to try and find away to get Troy to open up to her, as well as finding out truths along the way. Why is Troy so closed up? Why is he so lonely? Can this really lead to true love - the true love from her fairy tales?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Mom, my stomach…" Gabriella groaned as she walked in between her mother and the principal, Principal Matsui.

"Is always nervous on first day at a new school. You'll do great. You always do, and I made my company promise that I can't be transferred again until you graduate," Maria Montez reassured her daughter.

"I reviewed your impressive transcripts. I expect your light will shine very brightly here at East High," Principal Matsui encouraged.

"I don't wanna be the school's freaky genius girl again," Gabriella said, her eyes wide as she scanned the school's hallways.

"Just be Gabriella," Maria advised, kissing Gabriella on the forehead.

"This way," Principal Matsui said, pointing to a flight of stairs.

Glancing back at her mother with terror-filled eyes, Gabriella hastily ran up the stairs and searched for her homeroom. She came across a door that had been flung open and she could hear the chatter of many students from outside of the classroom. She peeked into the room and observed it. There were students sitting on desks, looking at their friends' cell phones and strong-looking boys spinning basketballs on their fingers. Gabriella fell out of her trance and turned to the eccentrically dressed teacher who was sitting on what looked like a throne at the front of the classroom.

"Excuse me," Gabriella said shyly, holding out her folder for the woman to take.

"Wonderful! You're our new student…" the teacher said, opening Gabriella's file and searching for her name.

"Um, it's Gabriella," Gabriella informed her.

The teacher closed the file with a snap and smiled. Gabriella couldn't help but smile back.

"I'm Ms. Darbus. There's an empty seat at the back next to Jason, the boy who is sleeping."

"Thank you," Gabriella replied politely.

Gabriella made her way to the back of the classroom and sat in her chair. She analysed the room again, taking in some details that she hadn't noticed earlier. It seemed like all the students were split into groups of different activities and clothing styles. The kids who's faces were framed with glasses were eagerly discussing a thick textbook and speaking over each other to argue about who got question 7 right or wrong. A group of boys and girls gathered near the front of the classroom, taking turns to read something on a sheet of paper and moving their bodies to fit what they were reading. The girls with the chic hairstyles and slutty clothes were in another corner, fanning themselves with their hands as they swooned over the basketball boys. In the very centre of the classroom were the guys with the basketballs at hand. They sat in a circle on desks and chairs, talking about the next basketball season, who's party was next and some guy who was late again.

'Funny,' Gabriella thought. 'Where would I fit in? Probably the nerds.'

As soon as Ms. Darbus stood up, Gabriella noticed that everyone stopped what they were doing and went straight to their designated seats, as if they were scared of Ms. Darbus. She also noticed that they was one seat in the column to her left, at the front, that was left empty.

'Damn,' she thought. 'Why couldn't I have that seat?'

She shook her head, ridding her mind of that.

'No! Stop it! That's so teacher's pet-ish.'

The class grew to complete silence as Ms. Darbus began to speak.

"Good morning ladies and gentleman. Today, I will be discussing the dangers of cell phones, since I didn't get to finish my speech on it yesterday. It is a know fact that the radiation waves of cell phones travel through your skin and flesh, into your brain and from their, travels through your nerves into your heart and has a high chance of killing you. That is just one of the many dangers of…"

Gabriella's drooping eyelids suddenly flew open as the doorknob turned and was pushed open. Ms. Darbus' face turned to a frustrated one as she saw who had just walked into the room. But Gabriella had no idea. She was already mesmerised by how handsome this boy was. From where she was sitting, she could see his messy, just-out-of-bed, sandy brown hair that covered almost covered his ocean blue eyes. His style was rather casual which gave him a 'cool' look and boy did Gabriella admire that.

"Mr. Bolton. You're late," Ms. Darbus barked. "Don't tell me it was that father of yours again."

"No, it wasn't. My car broke down this morning so I had to push it back home," the boy explained, sitting down in the previously empty seat that Gabriella longed for.

"Another time and it's straight to detention for you," Ms. Darbus said strictly.

After that, the class fell silent again with the occasional noises of heads hitting the tables and fingers tapping on the tables. It was clear that the class were used to these types of boring and meaningless lectures. Anyway, no matter how much Ms. Darbus influenced her students to stop using their cell phones, how many would actually believe her? Pointless.

 _Ring!_

The whole class swarmed out of the classroom like a flock of sheep getting gathered by a sheepdog. Gabriella, obviously, was not used to this and she was the last one to leave. Feeling small in this world of allocated cliques, Gabriella hugged her books to her chest as she squeezed through the tiny gaps between people to get to her next class. Mathematics.

Evidently, this class had no particular seating arrangement for if there was a seating arrangement, all the cheerleaders would _not_ be seated together. It was a wonder how they were even in an advanced placement class. Maybe they seduced the aging and balding teacher to take them in his class.

Mr. Calk was his name and he was a bubbly and stout teacher who was very lenient with his discipline and examining. He would certainly give an 'A' to a cheerleader if they gave him a picture of them dressed like whores. He favoured all students and sucked up to them so they would give good reviews about him to Principal Matsui. Gabriella has already assumed that she wouldn't learn much for the second half of her Junior year.

Gabriella chose to sit near the back of the classroom, not wanting to seek attention from the eyes of her peers. Students would be unable to turn around and stare at her if Mr. Calk was 'teaching' at the front of the class. Gabriella felt a presence on her left and turned to see a pretty African-American girl, with a headband in her hair, sitting down.

'Hopefully this one is nice,' Gabriella thought. 'Maybe she won't even talk to me. That would be even better.'

Gabriella turned her head, slightly to the right to avoid look at the girl who was setting up her pencils in height order on the table in front of her. The girl proceeded to stack her books neatly and wipe old eraser debris off the table. When she was satisfied, she turned to Gabriella and smile.

"Hi," the girl greeted. "I'm Taylor McKessie, Scholastic Decathlon Captain and Science Club member. What's your name?"

That was probably too friendly for Gabriella's liking. Gabriella slowly turned around to face the overly-friendly girl who seemed to project a 'typical nerd aura.'

"Gabriella, Gabriella Montez."

Taylor stuck out her hand and smiled. "Nice to meet you and welcome to East High."

Gabriella hesitantly shook the girls hand and smiled bashfully.

"Oh, no need to be scared. I was just like you once. Last year, I joined East High and I was already a nerd because of how I looked. So let's take this journey together and see where it brings us, okay?" Taylor proposed.

"Okay," Gabriella answered unsurely.

"Anyway, Mr. Calk is always late to begin teaching, so that means I have time to tell you everything about East High," Taylor said quickly, as if she had a lot of content to get through. "Firstly, there are some things that are _vital_ for your knowledge. There are many cliques at East High and some of the more popular ones are the Jocks, Cheerleaders, Nerds, Drama Geeks and Loners. Of course, the Jocks and Cheerleaders are the popular kids and they sort of bully us Nerds, Drama Geeks and Loners. It's inevitable, however, I'm sure you saw, in our homeroom, the guy who came in late. Yeah. That's Troy Bolton," Taylor said that with such fascination and mystery in her voice that you would think that Troy Bolton was some sort of spirit that everyone was scared to talk about.

"And he's special because?" Gabriella asked weirdly.

"Because he's like a mystery to everyone. He's one the basketball team, which means he's a jock, but he's also quite a loner. Nobody knows where he goes at lunchtimes. Nobody knows why he's always late for homeroom and nobody knows why he doesn't have friends. So obviously you've seen him and you would be foolish to say that he's not hot. I mean, all the cheerleaders try to hit on him but he just shoos them all away. Again, I say, nobody knows why. Therefore, I advise you not to talk to him because he will just flip you off and ask you to leave him alone. Anyway, he's actually in this class, surprisingly, but he's late… again," Taylor explained.

"So… you're just gonna talk about Troy? What about everyone else? Oh my god! Are you a secret cheerleader who has a crush on Troy?" Gabriella asked slyly.

"No! Of course not! Why would I? I don't have a reason to like him. Besides, I don't have time for crushes. Got tons of homework, you know?" Taylor replied, trying to hide her cheeks.

Gabriella smiled. For the first time, it was a real smile. She liked this girl.

"I can see your cheeks! You're blushing! You are!" she teased.

"No, I'm not!" Taylor defended, covering her warm cheeks.

"Fine. Deny it all you want. You have a crush on him and you know it," Gabriella said.

"No, seriously. I don't. There's another guy I like but I don't think he even knows who I am," Taylor explained.

"Basketball team?" Gabriella asked knowingly.

Taylor nodded and sighed. Gabriella reached over to pat Taylor's back.

"Don't worry. Someday. Someday, you'll find that he actually does know you," she reassured Taylor.

Suddenly, the door behind Gabriella opened again and she saw the magnificent figure of Troy Bolton walk into the classroom and sit in the closest seat to the door: the seat next to her. Gabriella glanced and Taylor and saw that Taylor was looking at her accusingly. Gabriella tried to communicate with her eyes that she didn't know what to do, but it was evident that Taylor had trouble understanding that. Gabriella saw Troy slouching lazily in his chair, out of the corner of her eye, and noted that he seemed like he was in a hurry to leave. On top of that, class hadn't even begun yet.

Gabriella was a smart girl. She had many talents; one of which was academics. She was skilled in English, Science and Math, but to keep up her skills, she had to work hard. Maria had never thought of paying a tutor to enhance Gabriella's academic skills because she was already too smart for her age, but sometimes, Gabriella wished that she had someone to help her with her homework. You see, Maria Montez was not native to America. She was born in Spain and her first language was Spanish. Not even her second language was English. It was actually Filipino. Maria was half Spanish and half Filipino, making Gabriella a quarter Filipino. Gabriella was very proud of her heritage.

Being in an advanced placement Math class meant that Gabriella would have to study even harder. Her previous school in California was not as academically focused as East High, therefore, not having such high level Math classes. It seemed like Gabriella was in for a long school year with long nights of study and not enough time for other things.

Along with being academically gifted, Gabriella had many other talents, some of which included singing, dancing, art and gym. One of Gabriella's favorite pasttimes was singing and she knew she was good at it. In fact, her old drama teacher had begged her to audition for the school's musical because of her voice. Gabriella had politely refused due to the bucket loads of homework she had to complete.

Gabriella also had a reserved space in her heart for dancing. Whenever she had free time, Gabriella would go to a dance studio and let out all her emotions by dancing. Whenever she did so, she could feel the music in her soul, forcing her to leap or jump of twirl. The sensation of being able to be free was a good feeling.

Another thing Gabriella had a soft spot for was art. She thoroughly enjoyed drawing, painting and even coloring on some occasions when she felt like it. Maria often marveled over Gabriella's artistic talent and hung numerous artworks by her daughter on the walls of their home. Visitors would also praise the artwork and one man even offered to pay $1,000 for one of Gabriella's paintings. Gabriella had laughed that off and thought it was a joke when her mother told her that story.

At her old school, Gabriella had always come out on top in gym. Gym and dancing had made her physically strong and she prided herself in those areas. The gym teacher back in Florida had always been impressed with Gabriella's athletic ability and even tried to persuade Gabriella to join the boys' track, football _and_ basketball teams.

Now, at East High, Gabriella wasn't sure if she would have time for everything she wanted and planned to do. This school seemed more serious about academics so there was no way she would have time to do everything.

Gabriella listened to Mr. Calk as he went on and on about how to work out the value of pronumerals in algebra. That was so 7th grade. Finally, when the class was over, Gabriella stuffed her books in her bag, slung it over her shoulder and walked out the door with Taylor close behind her.

"Do you want me to show you the cafeteria?" Taylor asked kindly.

"Yeah, sure. What do they serve?" Gabriella asked.

"They serve a variety of foods of different cuisines. The food is actually quite good. Today, there's meat loaf and pudding. I haven't had the school's meat loaf before so I don't know if it tastes good or not," Taylor said, leading Gabriella to the lunch line.

Gabriella looked around the cafeteria and saw the different cliques at different tables, fully separated from other cliques and not willing to mix with any other types of people. After she got her food, Taylor showed Gabriella an empty table where they sat.

"As you can see, there's know Troy to be seen," Taylor said. "It's really quite a mystery."

Gabriella narrowed her eyes playfully. "You seem very intrigued by this Troy Bolton guy. Are you sure you're not stalking him or anything, because if you are, I won't judge."

Taylor also narrowed her eyes. "Don't you dare go there again, missy. You know I don't like him, nor am I stalking him, so you have nothing to worry about."

"Well, even if you _did_ like him, I wouldn't be worried," Gabriella shrugged.

"I'm worried," Taylor said quickly. "Gabriella, don't talk to Troy. Don't even try to talk to him. From what I've heard, he's dangerous."

"How so?" Gabriella questioned.

"Everyone knows that he murdered his family and he lives with his uncle, who is also the basketball team's coach and gym teacher. They say that he's wanted by the police and he's still on the run. He stays at school as short as he can so he has the least chances of being caught," Taylor said in a hushed whisper.

"And you believe that?" Gabriella asked in a disgusted tone.

Taylor held her hands up in surrender.

"I can't help it. If everyone else believes it, it must be true," she said illogically.

"Unbelievable," Gabriella muttered.

"Hey, I'm just informing you of the dangers of Troy Bolton," Taylor said. "If you get hurt by him, don't say I didn't warn you."

"Whatever," Gabriella said, looking around the cafeteria. "I would find a reason to go near him anyway."

"You'd better not," Taylor said, glaring around the cafeteria. "If a teacher decides to put you and Bolton in a group together for a project, that teacher will be seeing the fires of hell before they can even finish say 'Troy Bolton'."  
"You're very stuck on that opinion, aren't you?" Gabriella asked.  
"Yeah, well, isn't it obvious?" Taylor asked and both girl laughed. "So, how's the food?"  
"Mhm," Gabriella moaned. "Absolutely amazing. I'm dumping my 9th husband."  
"What?" Taylor asked confusedly.  
"My husbands are my favorite food at the time. Whenever I have a new favorite food, it becomes my new husband. My 9th husband was butter on raisin bread. Now, it's this pudding," Gabriella explained. "Yeah, I know. It's quite strange."  
"Very," Taylor agreed.  
 _Ring!_  
"Oh, that's the bell!" Taylor exclaimed. "What do you have?"  
Gabriella scanned her timetable and looked for her next period.  
"Music," she replied.  
"You're doing music? Interesting," Taylor said thoughtfully.  
"Is there something wrong?" Gabriella asked.  
"No," Taylor shrugged. "Just that Bolton's in that class."  
Gabriella pretended to be really surprised. "You memorised his schedule?"  
"No, one of my friends is in that class and she told me about him. Apparently, he doesn't do anything in that class so the teacher always picks on him," Taylor explained.  
"Seems like him from what you told me. Anyway, I must be going," Gabriella said, waving to her new friend and following the crowd out of the cafeteria doors.

Gabriella sat in the music room, tapping her pencil on the table and observing the features and objects of the room. It was filled with many different instruments, but also with posters and CDs on the walls. It seemed like so much good work was done in the class.  
Out of the corner of her eye, Gabriella spotted Troy walking into the classroom an sitting in the seat directly behind her. She gulped and tried her best not to look awkward or out of place. Troy, she noticed, would often look around the room in a sort of daydream state, instead of using his cell phone like all the other students did.  
'Well, on the bright side, at least he isn't late,' Gabriella thought.  
The teacher for this class was named Mr. Harnonie. He carried a kind and conscious aura wherever he went and Gabriella could sense that this class would be one of her favourites. Mr. Harmonies stood up from his desk and walked to the front of the classroom.  
"Good afternoon, students," he greeted. "Now, today is a special day because we have a new student."  
Gabriella shrunk down in her chair, in an attempt to disguise herself in the wood of the table.  
"Miss. Gabriella Montez, would you like to come up and introduce yourself? Tell us where you moved from, your former school and why you chose music out of all the other subjects you could've chosen from," Mr. Harnonie said kindly.  
Gabriella got up from her seat, hesitantly, and made her way to the front. "Okay..." she said slowly.  
"Don't worry, I don't bite," Mr. Harnonie said.  
Gabriella smiled at her teacher and nodded.  
"So, my name is Gabriella Montez. I recently moved from Florida about 3 days ago and my former school was just a state school called 'State School of Orlando.' Why did I choose music? Well, that's easy. Simply because I love music. Whenever I hear music or even imagine it, I feel at peace and that's probably what draws me in the most. I also find that music allows you to express your emotions in a way that speaking and writing can't."  
When she had finished, most of the class clapped as well as Mr. Harnonie.  
"Very good. Thank you," he thanked. "I see you're very passionate. Well, I hope you enjoy this subject and consider it for next year."  
"I will," Gabriella smiled, walking back to her seat and waiting for Mr. Harnonie to continue.  
"After a delightful speech from Miss. Montez, I would like to introduce our next project which I'm sure will interest you very much. Your task is to create a CD of at least 7 songs. These songs can be instrumentals, singing with backing tracks, singing with your own instrumentals and anything else that incorporates music in it," Mr. Harnonie explained.  
A girl with light brown hair and glasses raised her hand.  
"Is this an individual project?" she asked softly.  
"No, you will be working in pairs. Pairs that I will assign," Mr. Harnonie said. "Ah, here's my list. Adrian and Hannah will be working together, Gary and Fiona, Yokutu and Samarah, Jordan and Riley, Kyle and Sandra, Blake and Vivian," the list of names went on for a while until... "Troy and Gabriella."  
Just as Gabriella was about to fall asleep, her eyes flew open and her whole body froze as realised who she would have to be associated with. Taylor had told her not to go near to him because he was dangerous. Of course, she didn't believe that he killed her parent, but she knew nothing. He could actually be a serial killer for all she knew. And poor Mr. Harnonie. He was such a nice man, but Taylor had promised to kill any teacher that made Gabriella and Troy work together on a project. However, Gabriella's shock could be mistaken for disgust or terror, but in fact, it wasn't. Gabriella didn't have any preference to which boy she was paired up with, but her friend had warned. But what was life without taking any risks?  
"You may start discussing with your partners now," Mr. Harnonie said.  
Gabriella spun around in her chair so she could face Troy, who had a really bored and day dreamy face on.  
"Hi," she greeted friendlily.  
Troy's eyes actually bothered to focus on her, but his mouth was too lazy to speak.  
"So, what type of songs do you want to put on the CD? I don't know about you, but I like to sing. Ooh! Perhaps we can do a duet or two together! That'd be so cool!" Gabriella said excitedly. Her face fell when she saw he was joining in with her excitement. "What do you think?"  
Troy shrugged and his face remained emotionless. He shook his head and sighed.  
"You talk too much," he replied.  
Gabriella's internal joy erupted inside her, feeling the accomplishment of getting Troy to speak to her.  
"Well, if you won't talk, then who else will do the talk?" Gabriella asked.  
"You," Troy answered lazily.  
"So, anyway... why did you choose this subject if you're not gonna find it interesting?" Gabriella asked.  
"Who said I don't find it interesting?" Troy asked.  
"Oh, well, you just have this bored face on, you know? So, I just assumed..." Gabriella answered as a best as she could.  
"You should never assume things, Kitten," Troy said.  
"It's Gabriella, not Kitten," Gabriella corrected.  
"I know... Kitten," Troy smirked.  
"I'll keep calling you that."  
"Okay," Gabriella said. "Do what you like. Fine. But, I'm really serious about this whole school thing and I want to do well in my studies, so, we'd better get started on this project. So, back to my first question, what type of songs do you want to put on the CD?"  
"I don't know," Troy replied nonchalantly. "You choose."  
"Alright then. I like songs from musicals. They're cool. But it's also fun to have instrumentals. I don't know either. You should also have a say in this," Gabriella said.  
"Do you like rap songs?" Troy asked.  
Gabriella cringed, wondering if her answer would offend him at all. "Uh..."  
Before she could even start her sentence, Troy continued. "Okay, good. I don't like rap songs either."  
"So are you a country kind of guy?" Gabriella asked.  
"Yeah, sort of," Troy shrugged. "I like country and also pop. Songs from musicals are nice. I used to watch them with my mom..." Troy trailed off awkwardly.  
Gabriella bit her lip, remembering what Taylor told her about Troy murdering his family. Gabriella looked up when she hear Troy sigh.  
"Taylor told you right. Rumor's been going around for years," Troy said.  
"How did you know?" Gabriella asked.  
"It's inevitable."  
"Did you just assume?" Gabriella asked.  
"No, I just know what Taylor does when she's being her typical self. She tells the new students about how dangerous I am and how they should keep away from me because I killed people or something like that," Troy explained.  
"Well, if it helps, I don't believe that you killed your family," Gabriella said with hope.  
"What a lie!" Troy scoffed. "Maybe Taylor is right. Maybe you should believe her."  
"What? No! Why should I believe that you did such a horrible thing when I don't even know anything about you?" Gabriella asked rhetorically.  
"Yes, that's right. You don't know anything about me, therefore, news for you would e that I actually did kill my family," Troy said.  
Gabriella's eyes popped out of their sockets. He did not just say that! Gabriella cleared her throat and laughed awkwardly.  
"Did I hear you correctly? I swear you just said that you killed your parents."  
"That's because that _is_ what I said. I killed my family and I spend the shortest times at school so my chances of getting caught are lower than they should be," Troy said.

"Is that actually true?" Gabriella said quietly.

"I don't know, you tell me," Troy said.

Gabriella stayed silent.

"Come on. Let's do our project," she said.

HSM

"Okay, so let me get this straight. Mr. Harnonie put you and Troy Bolton in a group… together?" Taylor exclaimed.

"Yup," Gabriella replied.

"I'm gonna kill him!" Taylor cried.

"No, don't," Gabriella said. "It's an opportunity to see if Troy is really like how you described him."

"He is," Taylor said with a threatening look in her eyes. "You don't want to mess with him."

"He was nice to me," Gabriella shrugged. "So why should I worry?"

Taylor looked at her friend strangely, as if she was out of her mind. She cleared her throat.

"Okay, let me tell you a story," she said. When Gabriella didn't reply, she continued. "During the Summer before our Junior year, which is this year, Bolton's uncle forced him to go to this basketball camp. Bolton got so mad at his uncle for that and he punched him in the nose. Coach was in hospital for weeks.

"At the summer camp, Bolton was 'Mr. Hot Shot' there. All the girls swooned over him and lucky for them, there were parties that he attended. Bolton would hook up with them, promise to do it again, but then leave them miserable. He hooked up with about 10 girls that Summer and left them behind like they were just dolls."

Gabriella laughed a sarcastic laugh and crossed her arms.

"And who'd you hear that from?" she asked.

"My friend, Sharpay," Taylor smirked, also crossing her arms. "You see, this camp wasn't just a basketball camp. It was also a dance camp and Sharpay was there. She witnessed everything – the parties, the girls crying and everything else."

"Is she some sort of gossip queen then? Because I can't imagine Bolton doing something like that," Gabriella said.

"Look. It's nice of you to defend him and all, but do consider the bad sides of people as well," Taylor said.

 _Ring_

"Oh no! I have to go now!" Gabriella cried.

"Where are you rushing off to?" Taylor asked.

"Somewhere..." Gabriella replied hastily. "Sorry, Taylor."

"No, it's alright. Go ahead."

Gabriella nodded at her new friend and ran out of the school, to the sidewalk. She began to walk faster as students started to file out of the school in packs. Eager to not get caught in the crowd, she took of in a run so she could get to where she was going. Want to know were she was going? Well, let's take look at some Montez history.

Juan Montez, otherwise known as Gabriella's grandfather, was the father of Gabriella's father. Juan and his wife, Isabella were very close to Gabriella, but an unfortunate car crash occurred and Gabriella lost 1 set of grandparents.

Maria Montez's parents had mysteriously disappeared when Maria was just 10 years old, leaving her with her auntie. Therefore, Gabriella's grandparents were left unknown to her.  
When Gabriella was 13, Carlos was diagnosed with lung cancer, which was questionable as Carlos had never smoked before. 6 months later, Gabriella laid Carlos' favourite species of flowers on the top of his coffin.

This event left Maria a widow and Gabriella a child without a father. Gabriella admired her mother for dealing with all these problems and still succeeding in her work and motherhood. Since they were a small family, both Maria and Gabriella were very close and shared almost everything - objects, problems, worries and secrets.

Since the family only got money from one person, Gabriella was forced to work as well. She worked 3 jobs - a waitress, a cashier and a child care helper. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Gabriella went to the restaurant, dressed up in her apron and put on her friendly face. On Tuesdays and Thursday, she drove to Walmart with her named badge pinned onto her shirt and got ready for another day of memorising where everything was. And on Saturdays and Sundays, Gabriella went to the child care centre and played with the toddlers and young children there.

So, Gabriella's daily life was to go to school and then go straight to work and on weekends, she would work from 8 am to 3 pm. Sometimes, the restaurant would ask her to come before school to serve breakfast and she did so reluctantly, but knowing she had to and it was for the best.

Today was Monday which meant that Gabriella was working at the restaurant. To Gabriella, the restaurant was more of a cafe because they sold more desserts than the served main meals. It was like a quick drop off after school before activities.

When she went inside the cafe, she put on her apron and watched the door as a few people came in. She walked to the door and invited the people to sit down.

"Here's your table and your table number. Would you like anything to drink?" she asked kindly.

"Oh, not yet," the old lady replied. "Let me just have a look at the menu first."

"Okay, I'll come when you're ready to order," Gabriella smiled.

As Gabriella walked back behind the counter, she didn't notice a certain someone entering into the restaurant, but she did hear the ring of the doorbell. She turned around and she almost screamed when she saw a guy she knew. Talk about awkward conversations.

Troy Bolton had decided that he want an afternoon snack after school. He wore his dark shades that covered his beauty of eyes, much to many girls' dismay. It just so happened that Christy's Cafe was along the way to his house.

As he stepped into the cafe, he noticed a familiar mass of curls and a familiar outfit facing backwards towards him. Wondering who it was, his wish was granted when the girl turned around. Both of their eyes widened as they saw each other, but Troy's went unnoticed because of his shades. Gabriella wordlessly showed Troy his table by the window and gave him his number.

She gulped. "Um... would you like anything to drink?" she asked awkwardly.

Troy took off his shades and looked at her blankly. "Are you always this awkward around customers?"

"Uh... no?" she replied, more like a question.

The doorbell rung again and Gabriella looked over her shoulder to see another old couple hobbling in.

"Alright, I'd better go help those people. I'll be back," she said.

"Have fun, Kitten," Troy smirked.

"Gabriella," Gabriella called back, correcting him.

After settling the couple at the nearest table to the door, Gabriella went back to Troy to see if he was ready to order yet.

"Can I have coffee?" Troy asked.

"How about a 'please'," Gabriella muttered as she wrote it down.

"People don't use manners with me so why should I with them?" Troy shrugged.

"Would you like anything else?" Gabriella asked.

"More coffee," Troy replied.

"What about sleep?" Gabriella questioned.

"Kitten, I don't have time for sleep," Troy said, rolling his eyes. "I've got basketball 24/7."

"Then why aren't you at basketball now?" Gabriella asked.

"I can't be bothered to go," Troy said with no emotion in his voice. "So, when are you going to finally bring my coffee? Your job is to bring food and drinks to people, not to socialise."

Gabriella rolled her eyes.

"I'm trying to make a good first impression," she explained.

"Well, it's not really working, is it?" Troy said.

Gabriella huffed and crossed her arms.

"I'll bring you coffee, but only if you promise to go to basketball straight after. If you don't I'll just kick your lazy ass out of this café," she said.

"I don't make promises, Kitten," Troy said. "They never last."

"And who told you that?" Gabriella asked curiously.

"Myself," Troy replied bluntly. "Can you bring my coffee now? I'll complain to that waitress over there that you're not doing your job properly."

"Okay, okay, I'm going," Gabriella said. "No need to be so pushy."

"Oh, there is a need," Troy replied loudly.

Gabriella spun on her heel and went straight to the counter, starting up on Troy's coffee straight away. Most people would seem boring for ordering just a normal coffee, but Troy wasn't. Now Gabriella could actually see why everyone thought he was such a mystery. He was smart and witty, not to mention hot, but also lazy. Why wouldn't he just go to basketball practice like every other boy on the team did?

When she had finished, Gabriella brought the coffee back to Troy, who had put on his shades again like he was about to go outside again. She placed the cup on the table and watched him as he began to drink it. Troy stopped drinking for a while and looked up.

"Are you done being creepy yet?" he asked her.

"What?" Gabriella asked.

"You're like… looking over my shoulder and staring at me while I drink coffee. Is it possible for me to have some peace without feeling utterly disturbed by a girl who stares at people while they drink coffee?" Troy asked.

"What else am I supposed to do?" Gabriella asked.

"Well, you could start by going to that couple and taking their order," Troy suggested.

Gabriella turned around and saw a man raising his hand and waiting for the waitresses to pay attention and attend to him.

"Oh, right," Gabriella said, going over to the couple and taking their order.

Troy looked up from his drinking and stared at Gabriella as she took their order. No one would be able to see that anyway because of his shades. He had to admit that she was pretty, but he had enough discipline in his life and she wasn't his mother. When Troy had finished, he stood up and noticed that Gabriella was coming straight towards him.

"Are you leaving now?" she asked.

"Yes. You have a problem with that?" Troy asked.

"I was wondering if… if you could give me a ride home," Gabriella stuttered, her eyes full of hope.

Troy narrowed his eyes and stared at Gabriella's eyes.

"Okay," he finally said. "But only this once."

"Thank you!" Gabriella exclaimed, letting out a breath of relief. "I thought you weren't going to say yes!"

"I wasn't going to," Troy said, starting to head towards the door. "It's just because it's you."

"What's so special about me?" Gabriella asked, catching up to Troy after hanging up her apron.

"Nothing much," Troy replied.

"Because you're so great?" Gabriella scoffed. "That's just your egoistical brain tell you that."

Gabriella scanned the parking lot, looking for any signs of cars. There were none.

"Where the hell did you park?" she asked.

"There," Troy said, pointing to a motorcycle that stood relatively close to the exit of the carpark.

"You have a motorcycle?" Gabriella asked like a child, already so excited.

"Uh… yeah?" Troy said, unsure of the girl's excitement.

"That's so cool!" Gabriella said, running ahead. "I've always wanted a motorcycle!" she called. "But I never got one. I've only ever gone on one once… with my dad… when I was 7…" she trailed off. "Anyway, it's so shiny! Ohh, are you one of those guys who cleans their cars and motorcycles every week?"

"No," Troy replied. "I just keep it clean."

"I'm actually so excited!" Gabriella exclaimed. "It's been 9 years! That's too long!"

Troy chuckled at her excitement and took the helmet that hung from the handles. He threw it to Gabriella and she caught it.

"Here. Put it on," he said.

"What about you?" Gabriella asked. "I mean, it's so nice of you to value my safety, but really? Is that necessary?"

"No," Troy said, shaking his head. "What would your parents say if we rocked up at your house on the motorcycle and you weren't wearing a helmet?"

"Oh," was all Gabriella said.

Troy got onto the motorcycle and motioned for Gabriella to climb on after. When she was seated comfortable, she wrapped her arms around Troy's waist and held on tight, ready for the ride of her life. Troy wasn't going to lie – he felt extremely comfortable.

"Hold on," Troy said as he started up the engine.

Gabriella squealed when the motorcycle started moving and Troy grinned at her childishness. The rush of wind blew through Gabriella's hair as they drove through the traffic, in between the lanes of cars. To Gabriella, it was so cool to be outside, on the roads, without the cage of a car around her. As soon as they got to her house, Troy helped Gabriella get off the motorcycle and she took the helmet off.

"Thanks, Troy," Gabriella said, smiling. "I owe you."

"Yeah, you do," Troy replied. " _You_ can do the project."

"Oh my god! I forgot all about that! What are we gonna do?" Gabriella exclaimed.

"Calm down, Kitten. We have a whole term to do it, or rather, you have a whole term to do it," Troy said.

Gabriella scowled.

" _We_ have a whole term to do it. I'm not doing it by myself. Plus, Mr. Harnonie would know if you didn't do anything," she reasoned. "Do you do any form of music?"

"Well," Troy said slowly. "There's some things I _used_ to do, but I doubt I can do them anymore."

"Can't you just relearn?" Gabriella asked. "What did you play?"

"Piano, Guitar…" Troy replied. "Can't do those anymore."

Gabriella's eyes lit up as she had an idea.

"You know what? We should totally do an acoustic duet together! You can play guitar and I can sing or we can both sing!" she suggested.

Troy laughed sarcastically. "Oh, yeah. I can totally sing. No, really. I can't sing or do any of those musical things."

"Why'd you stop anyway?" Gabriella asked.

"Basketball," Troy half-lied.

"So… you don't have time for anything else other than school and basketball?" Gabriella asked slowly.

"You know what?" Troy said, exasperated. "I've had enough of all these questions. We're at your house already."

Gabriella was taken aback by his outburst and stepped backwards, holding her hands up in surrender.

"Okay, jeez," she said. "No need to get snappy with me."

Troy got on his motorcycle and sighed.

"Just go," he said.

He put his helmet on and watched Gabriella walk to the front door of her house and disappear into it. He sighed again and started the engine, preparing himself for the journey home. When he arrived, he parked his motorcycle in the driveway and took the helmet inside, placing it on the table.

"Troy!" Coach Bolton, Troy's uncle barked. "Where have you been? And what did I say about putting the helmet on the table?"

Troy rolled his eyes and picked up the helmet.

"There. Happy?" he asked. When his uncle continued to narrow his eyes at him, Troy continued. "I was hungry, so I went to a café."

"And that caused you to miss practice?" Coach Bolton questioned disapprovingly.

Troy stayed silent, waiting for the lecture to come.

"BOLTON!" his uncle screamed. "YOU UNGRATEFUL IMBECILE! I TOOK YOU UNDER MY WING WHEN YOUR PARENTS DIED AND THIS IS HOW YOU ACT? THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE! I COULD VERY MUCH GROUND YOU FOR MONTHS, BUT I'M GOING TO BE THE NICE FATHER YOU NEVER HAD AND LET YOU HAVE ONE MORE CHANCE! YOU HEAR ME?"

Troy released his fingers from his ears and nodded.

"I did have a father. Until you killed him," Troy muttered.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Coach Bolton yelled. "SPEAK UP, BOY!"

"Nothing," Troy replied. "I'll just go."

"Good idea, boy," Jack Bolton said. "For once."

Troy tucked his helmet under his arm and walked up stairs, flopping onto his bed.

He couldn't wait until he was eighteen.

HSM

"Gabby!" Maria Montez said. "You're home early!"

"I got a ride," Gabriella explained.

"From who?" Maria asked. "Genevieve?"

"No," Gabriella said, shaking her head. "This guy from school, who also happens to be my music project partner, decided to show up to the café. He took me home… on a motorcycle. It was so cool."

"Gabby… be careful with those types of boys. I'm not usually stereotypical, but a lot of boys with motorcycles are bad. They might seem nice when you first meet them, but you never know what's underneath," Maria lectured.

"Mom," Gabriella said. "Troy's the complete opposite. He's not mean to me or anything, he's just really closed up. There are rumours that he killed his family and the whole school believes it, but I don't. I can't imagine how horrible it would feel if the whole school is stared at you as you walked down the hallway, just because of a stupid rumour."

"What if it's not a rumour?" Maria reasoned. "For all you know, it could be true."

"Mom…" Gabriella said, desperately. "Troy isn't like that. I _know_ he isn't!"

"And how do you know?" Maria asked.

"I don't know! I just do! He's got good vibes," Gabriella said. "Plus, he's already brought back good memories by letting me ride on the motorcycle."

"Just be careful, Gabby," Maria said caringly. "I don't want you to get hurt."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Troy! Wait up!" Gabriella called from the entrance of the school. Many people paused their conversations and turned to see the girl with the mass of curls, running towards the boy who no one dared to speak a word to. Troy, himself, turned around and stared down at Gabriella.

"What now, Kitten?" he asked.

"I was just wondering when you wanted to start on our project," Gabriella said, smiling, trying to keep her friendliness level up.

"Can we _please_ discuss this later?" Troy said. "I really need to get to practice."

Gabriella scanned down Troy's form, taking in his jeans and the rest of his non-athletic clothes.

"Well, you sure don't look like you're going to basketball," Gabriella commented. "But fine. I'll let you off this time."

"You're not my mother, Kitten," Troy scoffed. "Now back off. There are people staring."

That was when Gabriella felt and noticed all the eyes that were on her and Troy and she flushed a deep shade of red, backing away from him and walking in the other direction. As she turned to give one last glance at Troy, who was slowly sauntering away, she lost her footing and fell hard on the ground. When she lifted her head, she saw a pair of shoes standing right in front of her face.

She lifted herself off the ground and brushed off her clothes, trying not to look like a complete fool in front of the whole student body. As Gabriella looked up to see whom the owner of the shoes was, she almost had to shield her eyes from Taylor's piercing glare that seemed to have a mix of annoyance and disgust in it.

"Gabriella!" Taylor snapped, crossing her arms. "What did I tell you?"

"Not to talk to Troy," Gabriella replied, starting to walk away in an attempt to leave the conversation. However, Taylor just followed her.

"And did you listen?"

"No," Gabriella answered nonchalantly.

"Why not? Do you know what could happen to you if you associate with… notorious bad boys and players like Troy? Do you not care for your safety?" Taylor demanded.

"Taylor! You're not my mother! You can't tell me what to do! It's _my_ choice if I want to talk to Troy and be _associated_ with him, not yours," Gabriella exclaimed.

"Gabriella," Taylor said. "You're not thinking straight and you know it. I've told you what I've heard of Troy and it's not good. I'm telling you, Troy is _not_ who you think he is. You might think he's an angel on the outside, but deep inside, he's a player and an asshole. I advise you not to fall into his trap and you'd better listen to me."

"But, you don't _know_ him."

"Neither do you," Taylor retaliated. "You've been here for 1 day. I've known Troy since kindergarten."

"What was he like in kindergarten?" Gabriella challenged, crossing her arms.

"How am I supposed to remember?" Taylor asked. "My memory is terrible."

"Whatever. You still can't choose who I do and don't talk to, so back off," Gabriella said.

"Now, you're just quoting Troy. You're gonna get influenced by him if you keep going near him. So how many times do I have to tell you not to? I'll keep saying that until you finally decide to think straight and listen to me," Taylor said.

"You can't stop me from talking to him," Gabriella said. "I'm doing a project with him."

"I'll kill that teacher," Taylor seethed.

HSM

That afternoon, Taylor sat at her desk in her bedroom, thinking about ways to stop Gabriella from talking to Troy.

'I'm not interfering or anything, right?' she thought. 'I'm just trying to help my friend… like every good, caring friend would do.

She grabbed her laptop from where it was sprawled across her bed and opened it up. She typed in her password and logged onto the school's messaging site. She quickly searched for a name and pressed 'message.'

"Hi, Chad," Taylor read out loud as she typed. "This is Taylor McKessie from your homeroom. I was wondering how much you knew about Troy and if he's really as dangerous as everyone seems to think. One of my friends is trying to get to know him, but I don't want her to get too close. Do you have any tips or ways to make them stay apart?"

Taylor read over her message and hit send when it was perfect. She closed her computer and continued on studying for the upcoming decathlon. Maybe she could talk Gabriella into joining the team. Gabriella was smart; she would be perfect.

After a few hours of studying, Taylor decided it was time for a break. She logged onto her computer again and checked to see if Chad had replied. Surely, basketball training was over already. Luckily, he did reply.

"Yeah, sure. Talk to me tomorrow," Taylor read aloud, frowning. "Seriously? That's _all_ he types? What a lazy bum!"

'Well, those are the typical basketball jocks. Never having time to talk to nerds like me,' Taylor thought.

Soon, Taylor was called to dinner and after that, she went straight to bed.

Boy, was studying tiring!

HSM

 _Flashback_

" _Daddy!" 5-year-old Gabriella exclaimed, jumping onto the living room couch besides her father. "Tell me a story!"_

" _A classic or a made up one?" Carlos asked, smiling down at his excited daughter._

" _Made up, please!" Gabriella replied._

" _Okay," Carlos said. "Once upon a time, there was a girl named Anne. She was a beautiful girl who was not only smart, but also kind and loving. She respected her parents and obeyed whatever they said. She was an angel. But then there was a boy. His name was Alex. He wasn't a naughty boy, but he had some problems in his life that he couldn't seem to figure out."_

" _Like homework?" Gabriella asked._

" _No," Carlos laughed. "Other problems."_

 _Gabriella giggled as Carlos tickled her tummy._

" _One day, Anne and Alex met and wanted to be friends, but Anne's best friend, Charlotte, kept trying to pull them away from each other. Then, one day, Anne lost everything she had and needed someone to help her. In the end, Alex came back to Anne and helped her. They realized that love always won and they lived happily ever after," Carlos finished._

" _Daddy?" Gabriella asked._

" _Yes, cutie pie."_

" _Do you think I'll ever fall in love?" she questioned._

" _At the right time, you'll find someone you love with all your heart," Carlos told her._

" _I can't wait!" Gabriella said excitedly._

" _Just you wait," Carlos said. "Someday… someday, you'll find someone who loves you as much as you love them and they'll stay with you forever."_

 _End flashback_

Gabriella smiled at that memory. It had been 3 years since he had left her and her mother. When she was 5, she couldn't imagine her father ever leaving her, but then it came to reality. It happened and that broke her heart right in two pieces. There was always a piece of her that was missing. She reminisced all the stories Carlos had told her. The one about Anne and Alex was definitely her favorite as it was more of a realistic story than other magical fairytale that would never happen in real life.

Gabriella wondered what life would've been like if her father had not died. She might've not had to work 3 jobs. She might've been able to have fun like other teenagers and just enjoy life. Maybe they would be living somewhere else and Maria wouldn't have had to transfer to Albuquerque. Life would've been so much different if Carlos was still alive.

As she walked to school, Gabriella hugged her books to her chest and looked around at the scenery. Since Maria couldn't afford to buy a house that was conveniently closer to the school, Gabriella had to walk for an hour everyday to get to school. Maria usually took the car to work, which was further away, but in the opposite direction, so it was impossible for Gabriella to get dropped off on the way. It was a big hassle, but Gabriella had learned to live with it.

Suddenly, over the top of the birds on the deserted street, there was the rumble of a motorcycle getting closer and closer behind her. Gabriella turned around to see Troy riding his motorcycle towards her.

"Having fun walking?" Troy asked, lifting the shield of his helmet up. He looked up at the grey, overcast sky. "Lovely day for it."

Gabriella rolled her eyes.

"Sure is," she replied sarcastically.

"How long do you have to walk everyday?" Troy asked.

"An hour one way," Gabriella said. "It's not very convenient, is it?"

"No, not at all," Troy said, still slowly riding his motorbike alongside her.

"So…" Gabriella began. "Are you just gonna ride really slowly next me, or are you gonna ride ahead?"

Troy pushed the shield back down in front of his eyes.

"Well, since you suggested it, I might as well," he replied, riding off and leaving her behind.

Gabriella glared at his back, wishing that he would've at least offered her a ride. But then again, it was Troy; he would only do things if he was asked. She wondered if he even _thought_ about letting her ride with him. Maybe not, but that would've been touching. Gabriella smiled.

After 45 minutes, Gabriella arrived at the gigantic front doors of East High. She entered the building and went straight to her locker, which was coincidentally next to Taylor's. However, Taylor was not standing there, waiting for her that morning, which was surprising as Taylor usually liked to rearrange her books every day.

"Hey, Kitten," said a voice from behind her.

Gabriella knew who it was and she didn't bother to turn around.

"Silent treatment? Okay. I'm fine with that," Troy continued.

Gabriella could tell that he had walked away from her since she couldn't hear the gentle breathing on her neck anymore. Silent treatment was an angel.

Today, Gabriella's first class was music, which meant that Troy and her would be working on their project together. So much for the silent treatment. After homeroom, Gabriella sat down in the music classroom and began to jot down ideas for songs. Mr. Harnonie told the class to start working on their projects and Gabriella continued with what she was doing.

"Silent treatment still?" Troy asked from behind her.

Gabriella turned around in her chair, intentionally whipping her hair in Troy's face and glared at him.

"You don't deserve to hear me today. Why? I don't know! Maybe you could've offered a ride this morning," she said.

"What did I say yesterday?" Troy asked. "Just one ride and you were happy. You know, I would've given you one if you asked."

"Well, Mr. Bolton," Gabriella said. "Gentlemen's always offer the ladies rides. A gentleman couldn't bear it if a woman had to walk for an hour," she said dramatically. "But obviously, you're no gentleman and I don't like talking to boys who aren't polite to the opposite gender."

"Kitten," Troy started. "You might've been raised in a perfect Christian and fully-honoring-God-with-manners church, but I wasn't. You see, it's not like I have anyone to teach me how to be a 'gentleman', so don't expect me to buy you flowers every day and serenade you on your balcony at midnight."

Gabriella smiled. Troy was hard to be mad at. A boy so witty and blunt was hard to not smile at.

"I never said I expected you to do that. It's solely good manners that anyone should have to do favor for each other. Anyone with a good heart would do that. My eyes have x-ray vision and I can see into your good heart. So why waste your favors instead of using them now?" she asked.

Troy rolled his eyes.

"Very nice, Kitten," he said sarcastically. "I'm sure the queen would love to hear your inspirational speeches."

"Trust me, she wouldn't," Gabriella laughed. "Although, she might enjoy my dad's stories. I loved them," she said thoughtfully.

"Loved?" Troy questioned.

That was when Gabriella became uncomfortable with the conversation. Her mind clicked and quickly thought of a subject changer.

"Oh, look," Gabriella said. "Mr. Harnonie's coming. We'd better look like… like we're doing our work."

Troy glanced at Gabriella through his lashes. He could tell that he was uncomfortable with talking about her father because he did that too. Troy hated any conversation about family or even friends. People would always ask him about his family and friends and lie that they were on their anniversary holiday. It was a wonder why nobody wondered how many anniversaries Troy's parents had.

"Mr. Bolton? Miss. Montez?" Mr. Harnonie said. "How's the work coming along."

"Oh, it's great," Gabriella lied. "We've chosen our genres and who's going to sing what."

"Care to share?" Mr. Harnonie suggested.

"Um…" Gabriella racked her brain, trying to come up with lies. "2 pop songs, each a solo; an instrumental. String instrumentals are nice. A country song or two and maybe some acoustic versions of pop songs. They're always nice. And a romance song would be great for a duet."

"Miss. Montez, do you play any instruments by any chance, or sing?" Mr. Harnonie asked.

"I can play the piano and maybe some violin, but I haven't played since I was 13. I like to sing," Gabriella answered.

"And you, Mr. Bolton?"

"Nup…" Troy began.

"He can play guitar!" Gabriella butted in.

"Is that so?" Mr. Harnonie asked.

"No, she's lying," Troy said.

"No, he's lying."

"Would you two, by any chance, want to join the band or cast of the musical this year. It involves, instrumentals and singing," the music teacher proposed.

"Not a chance," Troy said, as Gabriella said, "Maybe."

"You can decide. We need auditions by Monday," Mr. Harnonie said, leaving their table.

Gabriella turned to Troy and smiled triumphantly, while he glared at her.

"Nice of you to expose me to the whole world," Troy said sarcastically.

"Well, who knows what you could become if you'd just take more chances in life. You know, it's always beneficial to take the opportunities life provides you," Gabriella said.

"You were always an optimistic one, weren't you?" Troy asked.

"Maybe. Maybe not. Who know? Anyway, let's get back to work. Come one! This is due in 5 weeks!" Gabriella exclaimed.

"5 weeks? That's plenty of time!"

"Says you, Mr. Basketball 24/7," Gabriella said.

HSM

As lunchtime came by, Gabriella went to the cafeteria and jumped into the queue for food. When she got her tray, she scanned around the building for Taylor, who was sitting alone with her phone in hand, looking at it every 10 seconds. Gabriella wondered what on earth she was up to. When she sat down, Taylor jumped and quickly hid her phone behind her back.

"Tay? What's up?" Gabriella asked. "I haven't seen you _all_ day."

"I've been… uh… busy," Taylor stuttered. When she saw Gabriella's unconvinced face, she continued. "Nothing you need to worry about."

"Tay?" Gabriella said accusingly.

"Fine," Taylor said in a disgusted tone. Rehearsing definitely paid off. "I'm just really bothered and freaked out. I was talking to Chad all morning about… an issue."

"Does it involve Troy?" Gabriella asked knowingly, but not knowing about the scheme behind this act.

'Unfortunately," Taylor said, putting on the best sympathetic face she could.

"What now?" Gabriella asked boredly.

"I need to show you something," Taylor said, uncovering her phone from behind her back and going into the photos app. She clicked on one of the videos she had and played it for Gabriella to see. A voice sounding remotely like Troy's began to speak.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU! I HATE YOU FROM THE DEPTHS OF MY HEART!"

Gabriella cringed at the yelling.

"Don't you dare! We've done so much for you and you don't have the gratefulness to appreciate it!" a man's voice, which Gabriella presumed to be Troy's dad, said.

"Pocket money's a bad bitch. I can use it to buy all sorts of weapons to hurt you and I will," 'Troy's' voice said.

"No! Please! No!" the woman's voice shrieked.

After that, there was the gnarly sound of slicing skin and metal rubbing against metal. Loud thuds sounded and the creak of a door handle turning and a slamming door. It seemed like the deed was done.

When the video ended, Gabriella felt a tear slip from her eye. How could anyone be so evil to kill their own parents?

"Is that... is that real?" Gabriella whispered.

Taylor nodded with a sad expression on her face. Seemed like Gabriella was pretty gullible. That was probably her downfall.

"I'm scared," Taylor said, remembering the lines she rehearsed. "I'm scared for you, Gabriella. Do you really want to end up like his parents? No. Please! I'm begging you! Please don't go near to him anymore. He's dangerous! You saw it with your own eyes and heard it with your own ears! So be logical and choose the right choice. Who knows what could happen if you trust him to much and he kills you in your sleep!"

Gabriella nodded, gulping the lump that was forming in her throat.

"Okay. I won't talk to him anymore."

HSM

Gabriella couldn't focus in class. She just could not get the sound of the skin slicing out of her mind. Oh, those horrible things the boy said to his parents. It was just... horrifying to think that someone would disrespect anyone like that, especially their own parents!

"Miss. Montez?" Mrs. Albino asked. "I've been asking you this question 5 times. Please pay attention."

Gabriella's head snapped up and she looked at the board.

"Sorry, ma'am. I just got distracted. What was the question?"

"Number 6."

"79?" Gabriella answered, more as a question.

"Very good," the teacher congratulated. "But please don't let it happen again."

"Yes, ma'am."

As soon as the bell went, Gabriella jumped out of her seat so she wouldn't be late for work. When she arrived at the cafe, she immediately dressed in her apron and started to serve customers.  
Once again, that familiar head of sandy brown hair and shades walked into the cafe, with his hands in his pockets, looking very suave as always. When Gabriella saw him, she straight away looked away, ok innocent to look into a murderer's eyes. She let another waitress serve him.

After serving many, many customers, who usually came after school or after work, Gabriella's shift was over. She didn't have a ride, but she definitely didn't want a ride from Troy. She put her apron back on it's hook and grabbed her bag. As she stepped outside, she turned around, hearing footsteps behind her.

"What do you want?" she asked rudely.

"You told me to be a gentleman and offer you a ride," Troy explained.

"Well, I changed my mind. I don't need a ride from you," Gabriella said, walking away.

"What? Are you like... bipolar or something?" Troy asked. "What's with the attitude?"

Gabriella spun around again and tried to search Troy's eyes for any hints of guilt, but they were covered by his shades. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"How can you speak so innocently to me?" she asked.

At that, Troy realised what she was talking about. He couldn't believe that Gabriella fell for that rumour and actually believed it. His face turned hard and his eyes turned a dangerous shade of navy blue.

"So that's how it's gonna be," he said, with a hint of anger in his voice. "Little miss gullible is going to believe what everyone else says."

Gabriella inhaled deeply and struggled to keep her tears in her eyes.

"Don't talk to me like that. Everyone knows about it, Troy. It's hard not to believe it," she said.

"Look who's turning into a mini Taylor," Troy said sarcastically. "Delightful."

Gabriella crossed her arms and wiped a tear from her eye.

"That's unfair," she said.

"Life's unfair," Troy said. "Look, Kitten. Believe what you wanna believe. I can't stop you, but be careful. Don't get yourself into more trouble."

"Says you," Gabriella said. "You could be in so much trouble by now. Everyone has the power to expose you."

Behind his shades, Troy's eyes turned even blacker at her words.

"Fine, then. Expose me if you want. See if I care," Troy said, backing away from Gabriella slowly and climbing onto his motorcycle.

Gabriella watched as Troy drove his motorbike out of the parking lot and down the road. She couldn't help but think how innocent Troy looked when he was talking to her, but then again, everyone at school knew about his past and it was almost impossible not to believe it, especially after hearing the footage.

Troy drove his motorcycle along the deserted street, to his large house, or rather, his uncle's large house. He thought he had hope. He really did. He even prayed that the one person who gave him a chance, would have the right mind to not believe what everyone else said about it. Turned out his life was forever going to be a living hell.

Troy unlocked the front door, his helmet under his arm and prepared himself for the hour long lecture about being committed to basketball.

"Troy!" Jack barked, once again. "Where have you been? I called you and you didn't answer!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Troy replied mockingly. "My phone was off."

"Don't you dare speak to me in that tone!" Jack snarled.

"It's a free country, Jack. I can do whatever I want," Troy said. He placed his helmet on the table. "See? Look."

Jack clenched his fists.

"Do you want to end up like your parents? Happily laying where they belong?" Coach Bolton seethed.

Troy raged.

"Don't speak about them like that!" he demanded angrily.

"It's a free country," Jack quoted. "I can do whatever I want. Now, go and wash the dishes," he ordered, pointing at the truck load of month-old-dishes that were piled in the sink.

Troy glanced at it and sighed. Yep, it sure was a living hell.

HSM

For the next few weeks, Gabriella and Troy hardly spoke a word to each other, except when they were forced to in music class. Sometimes, Gabriella could see Taylor's triumphant and proud smile whenever she saw Gabriella avoiding Troy. Her plan had worked.

"Look Tay," Gabriella said. "I got an F in my music assignment. My mom sure will be please with me," she said sarcastically.

Taylor freaked at the letter 'F' and nearly screamed a scream that would've bounced off every wall of the school, but he stopped herself just in time.

"What?" she screeched. "An F? Are you kidding me?"

"Nup," Gabriella replied. "I'm so proud, aren't you?"

"Gabriella! What's with the attitude?" Taylor asked.

Gabriella crossed her arms.

"You see, Taylor, if you hadn't shown me that video, I would've gotten an A, but you did and now I've failed a class."

"But if I hadn't show you it, you wouldn't know what was under that facade of his," Taylor countered. "I do everything for a reason."

"Fine, you win," Gabriella sighed. "But now I have to redo the project, so there wasn't much used anyway."

"WHAT?" Taylor screamed. "REDO IT? THAT'S INSANE!"

"I know, right," Gabriella said, keeping her cool. "But since Troy's probably not gonna do anything, I'm gonna try and locate his house and work on it with him."

"Well, at least Coach Bolton will be there to keep an eye on anything Troy does," Taylor shrugged.

That afternoon, Gabriella set off after school to try and find Troy's house. She imagined it would a large, grand house with many pillars and fancy designs and boy was she right. She spotted his motorcycle, parked in the driveway and instantly knew that this was the house. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the front door and waited for someone to open it. When it did open, Gabriella found herself face to face with Troy.

Troy instantly started to shut the door in her face, saying, "You're not wanted here."  
Gabriella pushed against the door in the opposite direction, hoping that it wouldn't close.

"No!" she exclaimed. "We need to do our project! Remember?"

"Who wants to be alone in a house with a murderer? No one, so you'd better leave before he kills you too," Troy said, threateningly. "Do you really care about your grades more than your safety? I wouldn't."

"No, I don't. But..." Gabriella trailed off, not knowing what do say. "Can we please just get on with it. I'm not here to waste time. I took a day off work for this."

"Fine," Troy said, opening the door an inch wider for Gabriella to squeeze through. "Would you like anything to drink?" he asked mockingly. "Perhaps a drugged water or an expired milk. What about food? A poisoned apple? Or even a rotten banana. I assure you none of them will make you feel ill."

Gabriella stared at Troy strangely, wondering why he talked like this. She never imagine villains, expressing how they were going to try and kill the people, especially referring to fairy tales. Troy was one weird killer, if he was a killer at all. It was queer how he talked about it.

"No thanks," Gabriella said as politely as possible. "School lunch was very filling."

"I'm sure it was," Troy said sarcastically.

Well, this was something Gabriella would have to get used to.

Gabriella began by asking Troy what type of songs he want to produce, but for some reason, he just wouldn't cooperate. It was as if he hated her and he wanted her to fail school.

"Okay," Gabriella said. "Why are you acting like this? Do you hate me?"

"If you hate me, everyone else hates me and life hates me, is it really a sin for me to hate a few people back?" Troy asked.

"I never said I hated you," Gabriella said.

"Neither did I."

"Then why are you acting like it?" she asked, her voice raising with every word.

"You tell me!" Troy exclaimed. "You've been ignoring me for weeks now. Do you really expect me to warm up to you just like that?" he question, clicking his fingers.

"No, but seriously! I took the time to find your house and this is not what I deserve after making the effort to even come!" Gabriella reasoned.

"No one gets what they deserve. As I've said before, life's unfair," Troy said.

Suddenly, the lock on the front door made an obnoxiously loud sound that echoed through the whole house.

"TROY!" a man yelled from outside. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU MISSED TRAINING AGAIN! IT'S NOT THAT HARD TO COME TO PRACTICE, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S AT YOUR FUCKING SCHOOL! DON'T BE LIKE YOUR FATHER, WITH HIS LAZY ASS AND ALL THAT CRAP HE CARRIED AROUND WITH HIM! I'N TELLING YOU, ACT LIKE THIS NOW AND YOU'RE FUTURE WILL JUST BE A MOUND OF SHIT, JUST LIKE YOUR FATHER'S!"

Gabriella stared at the door that was getting shoved and trying to be opened. She was bewildered, but also terribly scared at the yelling of the man.

"TROY! OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR RIGHT NOW OR I'LL BE WATCHING YOU RUN SUICIDES FOR FIVE FUCKING HOURS!" Jack yelled.

Gabriella turned to Troy, who looked unfazed, as if he dealt with this everyday.

"TROY! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE. HURRY UP AND OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR ALREADY! SEE? YOU'RE JUST LIKE YOUR FATHER! I CAN GO ON AND ON ABOUT WHAT HE WAS LIKE AND YOU WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO SAY ANYTHING BECAUSE YOU NEVER FUCKING MET HIM! HE HAD A FUCKING LAZY ASS THAT WOULD NEVER GET OFF THE GROUND AND I SWEAR HIS DICK WAS 1 INCH. YOUR MOTHER'S VAGINA WAS TERRIBLY UNHAPPY WITH IT! I COULD EVEN TELL, AFTER THEY ATTEMPTED TO HAVE SEX, YOUR MOTHER CAME OUT OF THE ROOM WITH THE MOST DISGUSTED FACE EVER! YOU'RE JUST LIKE YOUR FATHER AND MAYBE YOUR MOTHER TOO! SHE WAS A BITCH WHO WAS ANNOYING, LOUD AND DUMB, LIKE THOSE TEENAGERS AT YOUR SCHOOL. HER FAT ASS COULDN'T EVEN FIT THROUGH THIS FRONT DOOR!"

After listening to that whole monologue, Troy couldn't take anymore. He stood up and strode to the door, opening it, pulling Jack through it and slamming it behind him. He grabbed the greying hair on Jack's head and pulled his face towards his own, angrily. From the couch, Gabriella was watching the whole scene unfold in front of her, scared stiff in the comfort of the couch.

"Don't you fucking talk about my parents like that," Troy hissed menacingly, glaring with all his might into his uncle's evil eyes. Gabriella could still hear the conversation.

"But you know it's true," Jack whispered back, in the same deadly tone.

Jack turned to see the frightened girl, sitting on his couch and he grinned evilly, turning back to Troy.

"Who's this?" he asked. "Your new girlfriend? Just like your father: a player. I know. After you're done fucking with her, you're gonna break her heart and dump her, just like you did with all those other girls."

Jack took a step towards Gabriella as she shrunk back into the couch, holding onto a pillow for dear life.

"You, girl. Did you know that Troy hasn't had a friend in his life? You may had to teach him how to be a 'friend.' Why don't you two start with Barbies? That's a good warm up," Jack grinned, taking slow steps towards her.

"Jack," Troy demanded. "Get away from her."

When he was less than a ruler's length away from Gabriella, Jack raised his right hand and was about to swipe at Gabriella's cheek when Troy stepped in and pushed it away. Jack's smile grew as he focused on his new target and he brought his fist to met Troy's jaw. Troy cried in pain and clutched the place where it stung, swearing that it just broke in halves. Jack lifted his arm up again with and open hand and prepared to strike again.

"NO!" Gabriella screamed. "DON'T TOUCH HIM!"

Jack's focus turned back to Gabriella and while Troy was easing the pain in his jaw, Jack belted Gabriella in the gut, sending her flying backwards onto the couch. He then slapped her cheek, which was inevitably going to leave a nasty bruise there. The third strike was the killer and Troy didn't want Gabriella to hurt anymore, so he ran in front of her and took the blow that Jack punched in his chest.

"No!" Troy panted. "Please don't hurt her anymore! Take me instead!"

"Playing hero now, are we?" Jack taunted. "Lovely way to save the damsel in distress."

"I am not a damsel in distress!" Gabriella declared strongly, regaining her confidence. "That's probably a definition that suits you."

"Shh," Troy hissed, half turning to Gabriella. "Don't talk anymore."

While he was facing the other way, Jack took this as his chance to punch Troy again in the same place as he did before. That would make it burn even more. Once Jack was satisfied with his work, he went away to wash his bloody hands, as if nothing had ever happened.  
When he had gone, Troy turned to Gabriella and sighed. It was then that Gabriella noticed how sad and empty Troy's eyes were and regretted ever believing the rumours about him.

"Troy, I..." she began.

"Please go," Troy pleaded. "Go and pretend nothing ever happened. Clean your face and never come back again."

"No, Troy. I need to help..." she tried again.

"Gabriella, get out," Troy said, more sternly than before.

"Please!" she begged helplessly.

"GET OUT!" Troy yelled. "Just go."

"This is not over!" Gabriella called as she walked out of the house.

That was when Troy knew: he finally had some hope.

HSM

The next day, Gabriella walked into school looking like complete shit. She had washed the blood off her face and put makeup all over her bruises. She had carefully avoided her mother as much as possible so she wouldn't be questioned, but the problems with her mood and physical appearance were still noticeable. She had decided to wear a cap to school so that the hat's shadow would cover her face.

"Gabriella!" Taylor exclaimed, when she saw her friend. "What the hell happened to your face?"

"You can see it?" Gabriella asked timidly.

"It was Troy, wasn't it?" Taylor muttered angrily.

"No!" Gabriella exclaimed immediately.

"Don't defend him anymore," Taylor interrupted. "You can't keep standing up for him if he's hiring you like this. Gosh! You really need to tell someone,"

"But Tay! It wasn't..." Gabriella protested.

"Stop it, Gabriella! If you keep hiding it, it'll only hurt you more later," Taylor said.

What was it with Taylor not listening today? Was she really that desperate for Gabriella to see Troy as a bad guy?

Out of the corner of her eye, Gabriella saw Troy walk into the building with his head down and a cap covering his face, just like what she was wearing. Her eyes met his and she stared into them remorsefully, wishing she could break free from Taylor's grasp and just fall into his arms.

"Did you fight with him?" Taylor asked. "I swear! That boy is going to kill you some day and you know it!"

"Taylor, listen to me. You don't understand... at all," Gabriella said. "It was Troy's uncle."

"Coach Bolton?" Taylor scoffed. "That man's way too nice for his own good. He's the only reason I enjoy gym now."

"No, seriously. It was..." she got cut off once again.

"There you go again, making excuse after excuse. It's not funny, Gabriella," Taylor said sternly.  
Gabriella sighed and turned back to her locker. She noticed that her phone had lit up and read the message that was waiting for her.

 _Meet me on the rooftop at free period._

Gabriella placed her phone down and got ready for homeroom.

HSM

When free period came, Gabriella tried to locate the rooftop garden by looking behind every door she could find. Eventually, she found the janitor's door that led to a staircase. She walked up the stairs and spotted the same black cap she had seen that morning. Gabriella walked over to the bench and sat down next to him.

"Did you tell anyone?" Troy asked, when he felt the presence beside him.

"Only Taylor, but she kept interrupting me. I doubt she would believe me anyway," Gabriella replied.

"Good. Don't tell anyone else," Troy said.

"Why not?"

"Because," Troy said. "Okay, since you've basically witnessed my whole life, it's probably time I tell you the truth about what happened."

Gabriella prepared herself to listen intently.

"When I was about 1, I lived with my mom and my dad, very happily, so happily that we were bound to live happily ever after. But, my life is the complete opposite of a happily ever after because my uncle came and killed my parents while I was asleep. I don't even know where he hid the bodies, but I have a feeling that they're in the backyard somewhere. Then, Jack stole the house and claimed it as his own. When I was 4, Jack forced me to start playing basketball so he could have the reputation of a 'good basketball coach.' That was how he got his job at East High: he used me. Anyway, school came along and my social skills were extremely underdeveloped since I had never been taught how to converse with other kids before. No one wanted to be my friend and I didn't want friends. I spent most of my time, trying to please Jack by practicing basketball and studying hard, but he was never impressed. When High School came along, I was introduced to all the cliques. Obviously, I got into the basketball team as the captain and I was classified as a jock, but then people noticed that I wasn't 'fit' to be 'popular', so I was also classified as a loner."

Gabriella listened to all this with a deep urge in her gut to just hug Troy and tell him that she would be by his side for the whole way, but she was sure he wouldn't like it.

"How did the rumours start?" she asked.

"I'm not completely sure about that one, but I think my baby monitor captured the conversation, or the verbal war, and Jack might've shared it to make me seem like I was the killer. Jack's voice 15 years ago definitely sounded like mine and that's why it's so bad," Troy explained.

Gabriella grabbed Troy's hand and squeezed it, letting him know that she understood. She was surprised he didn't shove her away. Maybe the real Troy was a softie on the inside.

"Why don't you want to tell anyone?" she asked, slipping her hand out of his.

"Because if I do, I'll probably be sent away. If Jack gets taken away, I'll be put up for adoption until I'm 18, and even by then, I wouldn't have enough money to live by myself and pay taxes and all that crap," he explained.

"No wonder," Gabriella sympathised. "I am so sorry that you had to go through all that. Just know that I'll stick with you the whole way."

"Thanks," Troy said. "Maybe now you can tell me your story since I told you mine."

The bell had long gone, but neither of them cared one bit.

"Okay," Gabriella began. "I once lived happily with my mom and my dad. My dad would always read or make up stories for me and I loved the so much. I will cherish those moments forever. When I was 13, my dad was diagnosed with lung cancer which was a real mystery because he never smoked. 6 months later, he passed away and that was when my life took a big turn. My mom's job would make us move every 6 months or so and that meant I had to move schools all the time. Similarly to you, I never made any long-lasting friendships. When I came here, I immediately signed up for my 3 jobs because we were running low on money. They don't pay much, but it's still something, so if you want to earn money, you can consider working with me at the daycare or something. I need to study really hard so I can get a good job that pays well. That will help my mom very much."

"Tough life much?" Troy asked.

"Probably not as bad as yours," Gabriella said.

"Well, anyway," Troy said. "I hope you know that I will also stick with you the whole way," he smiled down at Gabriella.

"Thanks," Gabriella smiled back, flushing a shade of pink that made Troy smile even more. Any girl could melt at his smile. "I really can't imagine living your life."

"Speaking of my life..." Troy started.

He carefully lifted Gabriella's cap off and examined the bruises on her face. His fingers trailed along the feint purple marks that were slightly covered by the makeup she was wearing. Gabriella stared into Troy's deep blue eyes that still seemed to resemble to color of the ocean. Troy pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and smiled again.

"You really are strong..." he breathed thoughtfully.

"Thanks," Gabriella blushed shyly, turning away to hide her pink face.

"Come on," Troy said, grabbing Gabriella's hand and pulling her up. "I want to show you something."  
He led Gabriella to the other side of the rooftop. where the sun was shining down on them, and he knelt down. Gabriella followed.

"I found one of my mom's old diaries. She wrote that her favorite flowers were tulips, so I decided to plant some to remember her. The science club is still wondering how they got here," Troy told her.

"You planted these?" Gabriella asked. "Wow, they're beautiful."

"Beautiful like you," Troy murmured almost silently, but Gabriella still heard him.

She turned to Troy and looked up at him, wondering whether her fairy tale was coming true.

"Really?" she asked softly.

Troy snapped out of his trance and turned to face her. He leant his forehead down on hers and smiled.

"Yes," he whispered, to the girl he was sure was going to bring him out of his misery.

Gabriella stared into his mesmerising blue eyes, but then closed her own and savoured the moment they were having together, wishing it would never end. Troy lifted his head off hers and bent down to kiss her forehead. Gabriella smiled, fully enjoying the feeling of his soft lips on her skin. She loved what was happening to her with the boy who had already stolen her heart.

He really was a softie on the inside.

HSM

"Where have you been?" Taylor screeched at Gabriella when lunch time came.

She slammed her lunch tray onto the table, making Gabriella look up curiously from her phone.

"What?" Gabriella asked, not really paying attention.

"Were you with Troy?" Taylor asked suspiciously.

"So what if I was?" Gabriella questioned.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Taylor exclaimed. "Don't go near that boy! He's a danger to your safety! He's already done enough to you!"

Gabriella rolled her eye and looked back to her phone.

"Maybe if you had listened to me this morning, you might not have all these worries," she pointed out.

"Look over there," Taylor said, pointing towards the entrance of the cafeteria where Coach Bolton leant against the door frame. "Coach Bolton is the nicest man alive. You're making up stories to say that he gave you and Troy those bruises."

"Well, if what happened last night never happened, I would be making up stories, but since it did happen, I'm not making up stories," Gabriella said. "I wasn't dreaming."

"Not dreaming?" Taylor scoffed. "You had to be! Look, turn off your phone and listen to me. Troy is bad. You are good. Good and bad don't mix."

Gabriella sighed.

"Taylor, why do we keep fighting over this? You know it's my choice to talk to Troy and I'm going to take that chance. It's not necessary for you to act like an overprotective father for me."

Taylor huffed and looked away. She spotted a table where the rest of the decathlon team sat and she brought her lunch over there. Gabriella stared after her friend as Taylor walked away and sighed. She turned back to her phone and smiled.

Sometimes cell phones were really handy, contrary to what Ms. Darbus said.

HSM

That afternoon, Troy actually bothered to go to training. Talking to Gabriella had definitely been a self-esteem booster and he was now motivated to keep playing basketball. After a quick trip back home, he rode back to East High with his jersey and sports clothes. He wondered if Jack would make him work extra hard because of the previous events that occurred the day before.

"Hey, Troy," he heard from behind him as he hopped off his motorbike and took his helmet off.

"Chad," he greeted nonchalantly.

"So…" Chad said awkwardly. "What brings you here?"

"Training, of course," Troy replied slowly, unsure of the question.

"You haven't come in ages," Chad said, trying his best to sound polite.

Troy let out a breath he was holding and crossed his arms.

"Look, Chad. You don't have to pretend to be nice to me," he said. "It's not gonna work."

"Who said I'm _pretending_ to be nice to you?" Chad asked. "You deserve more kindness in your life and I'm giving it to you."

Troy shook his head and laughed.

"I _deserve_ kindness?" he laughed. "No way."

"Well, after all those rumours, I think you do. Everyone's turned against you," Chad explained.

"Not everyone," Troy mumbled.

"Gabriella? I thought she was mad at you," Chad blurted.

"How did you know that?" Troy asked quickly and suspiciously.

"Well… um… I…" Chad shifted uncomfortable from one foot to the other.

"What did you do?" Troy asked accusingly.

"Nothing!" Chad lied quickly. "I… uh…"

"You showed her the video, didn't you?" Troy demanded.

"I… not directly," Chad defended. "I… I sent it to Taylor," he admitted, looking down.

Troy sighed a stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking up at the overcast sky.

"Seems like everyone, except for one person, is against me," he mused thoughtfully. "Does Taylor really hate me that much?"

Chad, alone, was surprised that Troy didn't lash out at him and yell at him like he should've.

"Well, I… I don't know," Chad replied. "She wanted to break you and Gabriella apart."

"And you helped her?"

"I thought it was the right thing to do… at the time," Chad confessed. "I'm sorry I was such a suck up."

"You were," Troy replied. "Look, we'd better get to training before Coach kills both of us."

Let us guess the hidden meaning.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

During the next couple of months, nothing had really changed. Taylor still showed resentment toward Troy and Gabriella's friendship, but they still leant on each other for support. Coach Bolton continued to abuse Troy in subtle way, although Gabriella was sensitive enough to know when something bad had happened. Gabriella and Troy had completed their music assignment, which ended up scoring very highly because of Gabriella's ability to persuade Troy to sing and play guitar.

As Gabriella had predicted, Troy turned out to be an amazing singer. She normally didn't judge people like that, but since Troy kept arguing about his lack of singing talent, she wanted to test how strict he was with himself. On top of that, Mr. Harnonie kept hounding Troy and Gabriella to join the school musical. Troy was stuck on declining, but Gabriella was unable to attend rehearsals anyway, because of her schedule.

Throughout these months, Gabriella had begun to see how funny Troy could actually be when he was enjoying himself. He constantly cracked jokes, making her laugh her head off, but sometimes she just laughed at his sarcastic comments. Troy, himself, was very prone to calling Gabriella names, including 'Kitten', but he had extended that vocabulary to some… ruder terms.

On the other hand, Troy was finally finding peace in life when he was with Gabriella. She was funny, cute, sweet, smart and everything else that made her… her. To him, she was perfect and that would never change. Troy began to study more and actually _do_ his homework. He began to attend trainings more regularly when Gabriella threatened him.

In conclusion, life was good.

It was the month of May, which meant that prom was coming up. Normally, Troy wouldn't be bothered to go to prom, but he figured Gabriella would beg him to go with her. Guess what. He was right.

Ms. Darbus floated into the classroom, spinning in circles with her arms stretched out. The silk cape that she was wearing fluttered behind her, just like the butterflies patterned on it should've. The class' 20 pairs of eyes followed her figure in wonder, as she gracefully sat down on her 'throne' at the front of classroom. She elegantly picked up her folder and took out a small sheet of paper.

"Good morning, class," she greeted in her very theatrical voice.

A few members of the class murmured their 'good mornings', but no one was really bothered to address their old-fashioned teacher.

"The middle of Spring is here and I am delighted to announce our theme and date from our Senior prom," she announced.

Some people cheered, some people groaned, some people stayed silent.

"Our prom will fall on Friday, the 1st of June, which is in exactly 2 weeks. You have these upcoming 2 weeks to find your dates, buy your outfits and get excited. The theme is… Romantic Fairy Tale!" Ms. Darbus declared. "Because this is a romantic themes, you are not permitted to wear casual clothes. Full formal dress is insisted on."

The boys muttered among themselves about plans for dates and the girls discussed the types of dresses they were going to wear. The only 2 people who weren't having a conversation were Troy and Gabriella. What did they have to say anyway? Over the time in homeroom, Gabriella decided to eavesdrop on the conversation that was taking place next to her.

"I really want a purple dress. I think it compliments my skin tone," a girlish voice said excitedly. "Do you think purple would impress my date?"

"Obviously!" a squeaky voice squealed. "Speaking of dates, who do you want to take with you?"

"Maybe Jason Cross. He's cute," said a third, lower voice.

"Zeke's cute too, although I would want Troy because he's hot, but he's a murderer so I'll pass," said the squeaky voice.

"Troy… hmm…" said the first voice. "Have you noticed that the new girl has been hanging out with Troy lately?"

That caught Gabriella's attention. She was all ears.

"Does she even know about what he did to his parents?" the lower voice said in a hushed whisper.

"Troy's probably lying to her."

"Yeah, that's probably it. How could she stay with him that long anyway?"

"Do you think they're dating?"

"Maybe. If they were, they would be the perfect couple. Loner and loner – soulmates."

"They're both loners, but he's a jock and she's a nerd. That doesn't fit."

"Can you even imagine Troy dating? He's better with flings. I reckon he's banged at least 20 girls and he dumped all of them that same night."

"I swear it was 30."

"No, it was 45."

"Do you think he's done it with the new girl?"

"Well, if he did, he would've dumped her by now, so no."

"Maybe he's just waiting for the right time. You know, draw the girl in and make them feel special, use them for personal pleasure and them leave them heartbroken. That's how Troy works."

 _RING_

Gabriella laughed to herself as she picked up her books and got ready for the next class. It was weird how people believed such rumors. As she walked out of the room, she caught up to Troy and they fell into step with each other.

"Hi!" she greeted, feeling awkward under Troy's height. "I feel really short."

"That's because you are," Troy replied bluntly.

"Rude," Gabriella said.

"Maybe you should play basketball more. It'll help you grow a little bit," Troy suggested.

"I'd probably lose if I played against you," Gabriella stated.

"You would," Troy agreed.

"Rude," Gabriella repeated. "Okay, my class if here. Have fun in yours!"

"Sure will," Troy said sarcastically, walking off to his next class.

Gabriella sat down in her chair at the back of the classroom and waited for the teacher to begin her long lecture about philosophy.

Oh, how interesting… not.

HSM

"Where do you even go at lunchtimes?" Gabriella asked Troy, as she frolicked around the rooftop at free period.

"Somewhere," Troy replied, unsatisfyingly.

"Really? I thought you stayed in the same spot for the whole hour," Gabriella said sarcastically.

"No, I am definitely a mobile person… who can move."

"Speaking about mobility, do you know what involves mobility?" Gabriella asked. "Dancing," she answered her own question. "And do you know what involves dancing?"

"Prom. Yay. How exciting," Troy answered with the most bored tone ever.

"Oh, come on," Gabriella said enthusiastically. "It _is_ exciting!"

Yep, just as Troy had predicted – Gabriella's excitement about prom.

"Kitten, I'm not social, I don't dance and I definitely don't do prom," Troy said.

"You don't have to talk to people there, but I'll definitely force you to go. It's a good opportunity," Gabriella explained.

"A good opportunity?" Troy scoffed. "As if!"

"Experience, then," Gabriella corrected herself.

"I don't know how to dance," Troy said.

"I'll teach you then," Gabriella offered.

"No thanks," Troy declined.

"Come on! You'll love it!" Gabriella assured him excitedly, grabbing his hand.

'Sure I will," Troy said sarcastically.

Gabriella placed her hand on Troy's shoulder and he put his on her upper back. Gabriella began to lead by swaying a little. Then, she started to move her feet backward as forward and left and right. Troy did his best to follow what she was doing. Soon, both of them were completely in sync and they didn't step on each others' feet.

"See? You're a natural!" Gabriella praised. "It's not that hard, is it?"

"The hardest thing I've done in my life," Troy replied.

"Let's try and kind of turn while we step," Gabriella instructed. "Yes... that's it. Now spin me."  
Troy lifted his arm up and let Gabriella spin under it.

"Admit it," Gabriella said. "You like it."

"Only with you," Troy smiled.

"You're so corny," Gabriella teased playfully.

"You just ruined the whole vibe of the dance," Troy said.

"Did you like how romantic it was getting?" Gabriella asked.

"I'm not an intimate person, Kitten," Troy said. "You should know that by now."

"It's hard to notice. Strangers would think you would make a great boyfriend," Gabriella commented.

"And you?"  
"Oh, I don't know. It's hard to judge what you would be like as a boyfriend. All I can say is that you're already an amazing friend," she complimented.

Troy smiled at what she said about him. It was definitely a confidence and self esteem booster to be thought of as an 'amazing friend'. He had never been called that since he had never had friends before. He hoped and prayed that their friendship would last forever.

Suddenly, Gabriella felt a drop of water on her hair and she looked up. Another drop landed on her face and she shivered at the coldness of it. Soon, it began to rain on the two of them as they continued to dance on the rooftop.

"Do you think people will notice that we're gone?" Gabriella asked.

"Maybe," Troy replied.

"I wanna stay here," Gabriella said, laying her head down on Troy's shoulder as the dance slowed down.

"In the rain?" Troy asked.

"In the rain," Gabriella said. "It's like a dream," she started thoughtfully. "I've always dreamt of dancing in the rain. It's romantic."

"I hope your dream came true," Troy said.

"It did," Gabriella whispered softly, closing her eyes.

They stayed like that for a while, even after the rain stopped. Their clothes were soaked, but they didn't mind because they had almost take their relationship to the next level. If this wasn't relationship material, then what was?

"Are you cold?" Troy asked caringly.

"A little," Gabriella said honestly.

"I have a hoodie in my locker," Troy said, starting to walk down the stairs, back into the school building.

When they arrived at his locker, Troy gave his hoodie to Gabriella and she happily accepted it and put it on. It was way to big for her, but it was extremely warm.

"Thanks," she thanked him. "It's comfy."

"Good," Troy said. "Don't want you catching hypothermia."

"I won't be anymore since I have this," Gabriella said, lifting her arms up and spinning around, showing Troy how warm his hoodie looked on her.

"Okay, now you're making me feel cold," Troy said.

"Bad luck," Gabriella said. "I'm afraid you'll just have to live with it."

"Bitch," Troy muttered under his breath.

Gabriella smiled triumphantly.

HSM

After 3 hours of serving customers at the cafe, it was finally time for Gabriella to walk home. Usually, Troy would give her a ride, but he had an extended basketball practice. Gabriella sighed as she hung up her apron and wondered whether she would ever get a break from work and be able to be a normal, free teenager.

Gabriella smiled as she wrapped her arms around her slim figure and savoured the warmth of Troy's hoodie. Hopefully Troy forgot about the hoodie so she could keep it. She started her journey home and plugged in her earphones, pressing play on one of the songs she and Troy made. This one was one of the romantic duets they did together and she smiled again, wondering if Troy and her could ever be like the song suggested. That would fulfil her whole life - just to fall in love and be loved in return.

'But I don't think Troy is into relationships much,' she thought as she listened to the song. 'He says he's not the intimate type of person,' she pondered. 'But not all relationships are intimate,' the other side of her argued.

Gabriella shook her head, hoping to get those thoughts out of her head. Why was she thinking about that anyway?

After listening to her playlist 7 times, Gabriella finally arrived at her small house and unlocked the door. She closed the door behind her softly, making sure that her mother wouldn't wake up if she was sleeping. But, Maria wasn't asleep. In fact, she was sitting at on one of the living room couches, staring at her daughter oddly.

"Gabriella?" she asked, drawing her daughter's attention.

"Yes, Mom," Gabriella said, placing her bag on the floor, next to her bedroom door.

"Where did you get that hoodie from?" Maria asked.

"Troy," Gabriella replied simply.

Maria's eyes narrowed as she sipped her cup of tea.

"Troy? Is that the boy with the motorcycle? The one I told you to be careful of?" she questioned.

"Yup, the same one," Gabriella said. "But please, Mom. Don't tell me to stay away from him again. You don't know who he is, but I do."

"What's he like?" Maria asked.

"Oh, I wouldn't know where to start," Gabriella said dreamily. "He's sarcastic, kind, smart and he makes me laugh until I cry, but he hides that under his icy and mysterious facade. Once you get to know him, you find out everything that's beneath it."

Maria analysed her daughter's dreamy face and her lips started twitching upwards at the thoughts she was having.

"Are you in love with him?"

Gabriella nearly choked, but regained her composure quickly.

"In love with him?" she asked, beginning to blush harder and harder. "I don't know. Maybe. How do you know when you're in love with someone? How did you know when you were in love with Dad, Mom?"

"That's a tough one," Maria said. "I guess it's when you would prefer them over anything else and when you enjoy spending time with them so much, that you want to stay like that forever. It's when they're on your mind every second of every day; that's when you know you're in love," she explained. "So tell me, Gabby. Are you in love with him?"

"I... I honestly don't know," Gabriella said.

"Invite him over for dinner tomorrow. I want to meet him," Maria said.

"Okay," Gabriella said, picking her bag up and going into her room.

She logged into her phone and messaged Troy.

 _Mom wants to meet u at dinner tmr xx_

It seemed like Troy was online and he replied immediately.

 _K, see u there_

Gabriella smiled and closed her eyes, imagining what a conversation between Troy and her mother would be like. Troy would probably say something sarcastic or inappropriate and that would annoy Maria, but Gabriella would find it amusing. Either that or Troy act way too polite for anyone's liking and scared the death out of Maria. Both of them were not the best first impressions.

Oh well, if Gabriella could learn to live with it, surely Maria could deal with it for a couple of hours.

HSM

Good first impressions were vital for any mother to be impressed by their daughter's choice of boy, not that they were dating or anything. If Troy wanted to be liked, he definitely had to put on the best manners he never learnt.

Since the only mode of transport he had was his motorbike, he was left no choice, but to use that. Usually, cars were better for a more formal entrance. Troy took off his helmet and shades and got off his bicycle. He pressed the doorbell and waited.

Relief swept over him when Gabriella opened the door and invited him in. She was probably the only person he was completely comfortable with. Troy went inside and glanced around the entrance, taking in the numerous amount of photographs that hung on the walls. Most of them were of Gabriella as a child, playing with her parents. Troy felt an itch of jealousy, but then remembered that Gabriella's present life was not much better than his.

"Gabby? Is Troy here?" Maria asked, loudly from the kitchen.

"Yes, Mom," Gabriella called back. "We're coming now."

Gabriella led Troy to the dining room and they sat down.

"Hi, Troy," Maria greeted friendlily, holding out her hand for him to shake. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Same with you, Ms. Montez," Troy said politely.

"I hope you don't have any allergies because I forgot to ask you," Maria said.

"None, ma'am."

Gabriella stifled a laugh as she watched Troy grow tenser with every word he spoke. He obviously had no experience whatsoever with talking to adults.

"Okay, good. I made some pasta and please call me Maria."

Maria served the pasta for Gabriella, Troy and herself before sitting down for questioning time.

"So, Troy," Maria began. "Are you a safe driver? You drive Gabby around so I'd like to know if you value her safety."

"Uh... yes, I value her safety very much," Troy replied awkwardly.

"What type of car do you drive?" she asked, acting like she didn't know anything.

"I don't drive a car. I ride a motorbike."

"I see," Maria nodded. "How many helmets do you have?"

"One."

"So you don't value my daughter's safety."

"No, I do. She wears the helmet, not me," Troy explained.

"That's good. How are your grades in school?"

"They're alright, I guess. I don't have much time to study these days," Troy replied.

"Troy's really smart," Gabriella interrupted. "He's in all advanced placement classes."

"You are too," Troy said.

"I know I just complimented myself, but that's different," Gabriella said, speaking at a ridiculously fast pace. "He's way better than alright."

Maria turned back to Troy.

"And why don't you have time to study, Troy?"

"I have basketball training all day, every day. Sometimes even during classes."

"What are your plans for the future?"

"You mean like college. Well, I think I'm being signed up for basketball or something like that," Troy answered.

"What do you mean by that?" Maria asked. "You're making someone else choose your course for you?"

"No… well yes. My uncle, who is one of the coaches at East High, kind of dominates my life," Troy explained.

"And what do your parents think of this?" Maria asked unknowingly.

Gabriella looked at Troy, concerned, as he uncomfortably shifted in his seat. It was the good old 'family' topic again.

"They don't talk about it," he replied. Well, that wasn't a lie since his parents were unable to talk.

"What do your parents do for a living?" Maria asked.

"Uh... " think of something quickly, Troy! "They feed worms."

Maria's face turned slightly shocked as Troy regretted what he said.

"Feeding worms? I've never ears of a job like that before. Does it pay well?"

"My parents aren't really doing it for money. They're... old, and they don't have anything else to do," Troy half-lied, wishing that Gabriella would change the subject. Luckily she did.

"Hey, Mom? Did you know that not only is Troy on the basketball team, but he's the captain of it?" Gabriella asked.

"No, I did not know that. Does that mean you're a full on jock? You're popular?" Maria asked.

"No, I'm quite the opposite of popular, actually," Troy said.

"Do you have many girls worshiping the ground you walk on and making out with posters of you?" Maria asked strangely.

"I hope not."

"Have you been in a relationship before?"

"No."

"How many girls have you slept with?"

"Mom!"

Troy cleared his throat uncomfortably and shifted again.

"Uh... none."

"Okay, Mom. That's enough. Let Troy eat. He hasn't eaten anything yet," Gabriella said, cutting off the conversation.

For the first time since they sat down to eat, Maria smiled at Troy warmly.

"Congratulations, Troy. You've passed the awkwardness test."

HSM

After they finished eating, Maria invited Troy to stay a little longer, so Gabriella begged him to watch a movie with her. Of course, Troy reluctantly said yes and let her choose a movie.

"Let's watch... Frozen," Gabriella said. "It's one of my favourites."

"Really?" Troy said, scrunching up his nose. "Oh yeah, you're a Disney kinda girl."

"Is that bad?" Gabriella asked, pushing the DVD into the player.

"Not necessarily, unless it's you," Troy replied emotionlessly.

"Rude," Gabriella snorted, grabbing the remote and configuring the movie's settings.

"Don't tell me you're gonna scream along to the songs like a dying cat," Troy said, spreading himself out on the couch.

Gabriella scoffed. "I don't scream."

"You sure do."

Gabriella stuck her tongue out a Troy and grinned.

"Then, my style of singing would definitely suit you," she said.

"It sure would," Troy said. "But you're the Kitten, not me."

"Why'd you even start calling me Kitten anyway?" Gabriella questioned.

"Because..." Troy trailed off.

"Because what?" Gabriella led on, eager to know the reason.

"Because you're sweet, funny and cute," Troy admitted.

Gabriella could've melted right there, where she was sitting on the floor, just like a human version of Olaf.

"Aww," she cooed. "That's so sweet of you to say."

"You can thank me for melting your heart," Troy said.

"Thank you, Troy, for melting my heart," she said, actually meaning it. "So you thought I was sweet, funny an cute like a kitten when you first met me, huh?" she asked, smiling as she sat on the couch next to Troy.

"Yes," he replied shortly.

"That is _so_ adorable," Gabriella said, leaning her head on Troy's shoulder.

"Are you happy now?" he asked, leaning his head on top of his.

"More than happy," Gabriella whispered, as the men in the movie began to break the ice.

Somewhere in the middle of the movie, Gabriella's eyes slowly drooped and she drifted off to sleep. Troy felt the weight on his shoulder get heavier as he realised she had fallen asleep. He sighed and continued to watch the movie. When it was over, Troy shook Gabriella awake. Her eyes fluttered open and adjusted to the light of the room.

"Kitten?" Troy asked. "You slept through the whole movie."

"What?" Gabriella asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

"Maybe you should think about sleeping more," Troy suggested.

"Yeah, I should, but with school and work, it's almost impossible for me to get a decent sleep," Gabriella explained.

Gabriella stood up, stretched and walked into the kitchen to get a cup of water.

"Hey, Troy?" she called from the kitchen. "How did you get let off from basketball today?"

"I didn't," Troy replied simply.

"So you just skipped it… again?"

"Pretty much," Troy shrugged.

"How does Jack take that?" Gabriella asked, not caring about the formality of how she addressed people.

"Like the world is coming to an end," Troy replied. "He usually just catches me at home, gives me a long lecture and then tells me to go away."

"And what is involved in this lecture?" Gabriella questioned.

"It's always about keeping his reputation as a good coach who can make his students work hard. Sometimes he blames me for things that I never did and rants on about how he hated my parents," Troy answered.

Gabriella sat down next to Troy and cuddled up to him.

"That's horrible," she said softly.

"You learn to live with it," Troy said. "Happens every day, so now it's like a ritual."

"Do you ever wish that… that your life was the complete opposite of what it is now?" Gabriella asked slowly. "Loving parents who spoil you rotten, a bank account that's overflowing with money and all the fun and luck you could ever get?

Troy shook his head.

"No, not really," he said. "The abuse makes you stronger."

"But you've been alone for 16 years. I can't imagine how lonely and depressed you could get," Gabriella said.

"Well, the good thing is that I'm not too alone anymore," Troy said, looking down at Gabriella who closed her eyes and rested her head on Troy's chest.

"Will you ever tell me where you go at lunchtimes?" Gabriella asked.

"Maybe. Depends on when it's the right time," Troy replied thoughtfully.

"I hope it's soon."

"I hope so too."

HSM

On that same night, Chad was shooting some hoops in his backyard while waiting for Taylor to arrive at his house. Knowing that he would too lazy to go to her house, Taylor was able to drag her feet to her car and drive there. She rang the doorbell and was invited in by Mrs. Danforth to go to the backyard.

"Chad? Hey!" Taylor greeted, staring at his arm muscles which were exposed because of his jersey. Very untypical Taylor behaviour.

"Hi, Taylor. Why'd you want to come over again?" Chad asked.

Taylor could've face palmed right there, but she didn't.

"Our plan didn't work," she reminded him. "Gabriella's even more attached to Troy, now that she knows that Troy is alone.

Chad tucked the basketball under his arm.

"Taylor, are you sure this is the right thing to do? If Troy and Gabriella are happy together, let them be happy."

"Ew, they're not together. That's disgusting," Taylor said, wrinkling her nose. "Listen – when you become attached to someone, your whole focus is on them. You have no time for anything else because you want to be with them. I know that Troy is just sucking up to Gabriella to make her feel sorry for him and it's working, but I also know that Gabriella's going to end up heartbroken when he leaves her. If Gabriella is solely focusing on Troy, the scholastic decathlon team will never be able to make it to nationals. We're a person short and Gabriella's perfect for the role. Troy is stopping her from doing everything she could be doing."

Chad paused to think for a second.

"Have you thought about this – maybe Gabriella was not meant to be on the decathlon team. Maybe she was meant to be with Troy," he said wisely.

"Danforth! You don't get it, do you?" Taylor said.

"No, I don't!"

"Okay, look. Gabriella being with Troy is a risk to her safety and a risk to her self-esteem. Troy might be acting all nice and loving now, but sooner or later, he's going to dump her and break her heart in two. It is also stopping her from doing everything she wants to be doing," Taylor explained, more clearly.

"But what if the decathlon is _not_ what Gabriella wants to be doing? What happens then?" Chad asked.

"It's still a risk to her safety and we need to help her," Taylor said.

"Taylor…" Chad began slowly. "I don't think Troy's like that. He's not the type of guy who sucks up to girls, in fact, he doesn't talk to any girls except Gabriella."

"Then Gabriella's his first victim," Taylor said. "I'm asking for one tiny thing – tell Coach Bolton that you think that Troy's basketball skills are deteriorating. That will make Coach focus on Troy more and keep him away from Gabriella. That's all I'm asking for."

Chad thought about it for a second.

"Okay, I'll do it."

HSM

"TROY!" Jack yelled when he spotted Troy coming into the house.

"What's up?" Troy asked casually.

"Danforth and a few of the other kids on the team called me and said that your skills are getting worse. Why is that?" Jack asked.

Troy shrugged.

"I don't know."

"Okay, then. Tomorrow you start at 4 am. 1 hour of gym and then 2 and a half hours on court. Understand?" Jack ordered.

"Yeah, sure," Troy replied lazily.

"I SAID, DO YOU UNDERSTAND!" Jack bellowed.

"Yes, sir," Troy said mockingly.

"Good," Jack said, smiling.

Honestly, how hard could it be to get up at 4 am and train until school started? For some, it might be hard, but for others, like Troy, it was quite the opposite. The only problem was that Gabriella wasn't getting the attention she sought. It wasn't that Gabriella was and attention seeker, she just needed it. Ever since Carlos died, she was in need of a male being in her life. When Troy came along, her needs were satisfied, but his forced dedication to basketball changed that.

Over the course of the week, Gabriella had constantly been calling Troy to see if he was available to hang out. Each call, Jack was right by his side, telling him the words to say to her. Every time, Troy had to decline the offer, causing Gabriella to feel lonely and unwanted. Now that Taylor had stopped talking to her, she had no one to talk to or do anything with.

On the Monday of the week of prom, Gabriella confronted Troy.

"Troy?" she said, catching up to him in the hallway after home room. "Why have you been ignoring me?"

Troy looked at her strangely and confusedly.

"Ignoring you? When did I ignore you?" he asked.

"Don't play dumb, Troy," Gabriella said. "You've been ignoring me all week."

Troy bit his lip, wondering what to say. Maybe he would just tell her the truth.

"Apparently, my basketball skills are worsening, according to some of the guys on the team. They told Jack and now he's been bugging me to train all day and all night. I have to wake up at 4 am every morning and train until school starts and after school, I have to train until bedtime basically," Troy explained. "I wouldn't be surprised if I'm starting to fail school."

"I'm sure you're not," Gabriella assured him. "Anyway, I'm sorry for not knowing. I should've been more understanding," she apologised.

"No, don't apologise. I should be apologising," Troy said. "I should've told you. I promise I'll make it up to you... when Jack thinks I'm improving."

"That'll take forever. You're already the best of the best," Gabriella complimenting.

"You've never seen me play before," Troy said. "What did I say about assuming?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes but still smiled.

"That was ages ago."

"And it still applies today until forever," Troy said. "Oh, what fun. We have Math now. Speaking of Math, how are you and Taylor?"

"Not good," Gabriella said, shaking her head. "She acts like she hates me now."

"It's because of me, isn't it?" Troy asked.

"No, well yeah. Kind of," Gabriella admitted. "But don't blame yourself for our unfriendliness. It's her fault for being so small minded about you."

"You're complimenting yourself again, Kitten," Troy said. "You're the only person who's bothered to talk to me, therefore, you're the only person who's not small minded. You do that a lot."

"It's unintentional. I don't mean to do it," Gabriella defended.

"Well, you still do it," Troy said, allowing Gabriella to go into classroom first.

"Everyone has their habits. You wanna know one of yours?" Gabriella asked slyly, as she and Troy both sat down at the back of the classroom where they usually sat.

"Oh no, I'm scared," Troy said sarcastically.

"Sucking up to me," Gabriella said.

"I do not suck up to you," Troy argued.

"Oh yes, you do. You always, always over-compliment me," Gabriella said.

"Just saying what's true," Troy said.

"There you go again," Gabriella said, proving her point.

"What else do you want me to do?" Troy asked. "Insult you?"

"Well, no," Gabriella replied. "Compliments are nice but they make me blush too much."

"Even more reason to do it then," Troy said.

Their conversation was interrupted by Mr. Calk, who began to explain the concept of year 7 algebra. The cheerleaders probably learnt a lot during that lesson, but Troy and Gabriella certainly did not. After the class, they both sighed with relief because there was no more Math, which meant no more boring class. Now they had gym.

"Aren't you happy that our gym teacher isn't Jack?" Gabriella asked.

Over the months, Gabriella had learnt not to refer to Jack as 'Troy's uncle' because Troy was not proud of his blood relationship with him.

"Very," Troy replied.

The class was split in a very viable way on the bleachers. On the far left sat the nerds like Taylor and her decathlon team. They were the kids who didn't really enjoy sport and usually liked to sit out of it. Towards the centre were the theatre geeks. About half of them tried their best in the class, but trips over their shoelaces and embarrassed themselves. The other half only cared about theatre and making their injuries seem as dramatic as possible. In the centre sat the jocks and the cheerleaders who basically threw themselves all over the jocks. The cheerleaders flirted with them and tried to seduce them, but all the jocks wanted to do was to play their sport. On the right side of the bleachers, the liners were scattered around in a variety of rows, none of them speaking to each other. Then there was Troy and Gabriella. They sat together behind everyone else and tried their best to go unnoticed. Occasionally, the cheerleaders would flash dirty looks at Gabriella and Taylor would glance at her awkwardly, but they normally just kept to their own conversations.

"Class!" the gym teacher, Mr. Jim yelled, so everyone could hear him.

All the students put their conversations on hold and turned to listen to Mr. Jim.

"As you all know, prom is in 4 days. A number of you do not have a clue about how to dance, so this lesson will be dedicated to learning how to do so," Mr. Jim explained.

Much of the class groaned in resentment and disgust.

"Please choose your partners and come down to the floor," Mr. Jim instructed.

Every time an activity was done in partners, Gabriella and Troy always went together, since no one else wanted to go with them. So naturally, today they also went partnered up together.

"Today, we will be learning how to ballroom dance," Mr. Jim announced. "Boys, use your left and take the girls' right hand in yours. Hold it at shoulder level. Girls, place your left hand on your partner's shoulder and boys, on their upper back."

The class did so obediently, although there were a few obnoxious giggles here and there.

"Now, ballroom dancing is one of the most romantic dances created. Green and Tobey! Stand closer together! In ballroom dancing, you have to be passionate. You have to dance with your heart, not just your feet. This dance is lead by the guy, so I will tell the guys what to do and girls, do the opposite so your footing does not clash."

Some of the class nodded and some shifted uncomfortably.

"Forward step, backward step, left and right, now repeat that. Now girls, twirl under the arm of the boy. That's it... GREEN! STOP STEPPING ON TOBEY'S FEET! Now dip and up and forward and backward, left an right. As you get the hang of it, you can slowly start turning as you do the steps."

After Mr. Jim had finished instructing the class on how to dance, they continued to follow the steps and tips he gave them.

"So you didn't actually need to teach me dancing because they were going to teach us anyway," Troy said.

"It's always good to know beforehand, besides, it was just a bit of fun to waste our time at school," Gabriella replied.

"So you're telling me that you're not as nerdy as you look?" Troy teased.

Gabriella stuck out her tongue.

"Rude."

"I am honoured," Troy said sarcastically, making Gabriella laugh.

"You should be," Gabriella laughed. "Are you going to prom?"

"No."

"Is there any way I can convince you to go?" Gabriella asked.

"Probably not," Troy replied.

"Oh, that's too bad," Gabriella said sadly, looking down. "But do you really want me to feel so alone there?" she asked slyly, trying to make him feel sorry for her.

"No," Troy said.

"Then..." Gabriella said, leading him on.

Troy narrowed his eyes at her.

"I know what you're doing," he said. "But there's one solution I can think of to not make you feel lonely."

"And that is?" Gabriella asked hopefully.

"To not go," Troy answered flatly.

Gabriella sighed.

"What will you be doing instead?"

"Most likely basketball practice," he replied. "Last night, Jack said that my abs weren't hard enough," Troy said, rolling his eyes.

Gabriella's eyes nearly popped out of her head.

"Oh, how inappropriate!" she exclaimed. "That's disgusting. He touches you... on your stomach?"

Troy rolled his eyes again.

"No, Kitten, he does not touch me like that."

Gabriella scrunched up her nose.

"So he ogles at your body?" she asked.

"I hope not," Troy said. "But I'm sure that's your favourite past time."

"Of course," Gabriella said sarcastically. "My absolute favourite."

"I'm so happy. I must be dreaming," Troy said with no emotion. "A girl is finally appreciating my very shaped body."

"I'm sure it's shaped nicely," Gabriella said honestly. "Just don't get too obsessed with trying to please me. That would be weird."

"It would be," Troy agreed. "Oh my god. How long do we have to dance for?"

"Are you getting sick of me?" Gabriella asked, putting on the cutest face she could manage.

"Yes," Troy replied shortly.

"That's a very nice thing to say," Gabriella said mockingly.

"I'm glad you're happy," Troy said.

"You're totally not," Gabriella said. "I know that deep, deep down in your heart, you are so jealous of how happy I am. Look at me. I am smiling. You can see my teeth and my lips are stretched out too far. My cheekbones are more than visible and my eyes shine like the sun shines on water," she said, in the most inspirational-speech voice she could.

"Consider applying for a job as a motivational speaker," Troy said.

"I'll pass," Gabriella shrugged. "I'm not that inspirational anyway. I'll just stick with the jobs I have now."

HSM

"Guess what," Troy said to Gabriella the next day.

"You bought me a dog," Gabriella replied excitedly.

"No, I'm too poor for that," Troy said.

"Then what?"

"Jack is going to New York for a few days, which means he's not at home to boss me around and watch me play basketball and work out. Therefore, I can finally sleep more and you don't have to feel like loner anymore," Troy said.

"That's lovely," Gabriella said excitedly. "How long is he gone for?"

"Until Monday. That's 6 days of doing whatever we want," Troy replied.

"Wonderful!" Gabriella said. "I can't wait! We should totally go to a fair. That would be amazing!"

"Why, so you can get cavities from the fairy floss?" Troy asked.

"No," Gabriella said. "You know that game that if you knock down all the objects will a limited amount of balls, you can choose a prize."

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm gonna force you to do it so I can get something," Gabriella said, smiling triumphantly.

Troy narrowed his eyes playfully.

"So, you're just using me?" he asked.

"Basically."

"Nice to know," Troy said.

As discussed, Troy and Gabriella skipped school to go to the fair, which wasn't a very studious thing to do. At least Jack wasn't there to report them.

"That ride looks cool," Gabriella said, pointing to a ride here the passengers were screaming their heads off.

"Are you sure you can handle that?" Troy asked.

"You doubt me?" Gabriella asked.

"Maybe," Troy replied. "How much does it cost?"

Gabriella squinted her eyes to read the sign above the entrance to the ride.

"$5 each."

"Okay, let's go," Troy said.

Gabriella jumped up and down and ran ahead in excitement.

"2 please," Gabriella asked the man at the register.

"That will be $10," the man said.

Troy gave the man the money and joined Gabriella, who was already in carriage.

"So, what do they do on this. Do they like spin you?" Troy asked.

"Not just spin you, they fling you everywhere, in every direction," Gabriella explained.

"What fun," Troy said sarcastically. "Why do you like these types of rides?"

"I like to make the most of my opportunities," Gabriella said.

"You say that a lot," Troy said.

"I feel like it needs to be repeated," she replied.

"Okaaaaaaaayyyyyyy!" the ride began.

True to Gabriella's word, every carriage was flung in different directions by the mechanical arm. Troy noticed that Gabriella didn't even scream when they began swinging. When the ride was over, Troy looked over at Gabriella, whose hair was a complete mess. It was worse than bed hair.

"Don't laugh," Gabriella pouted. "It's not my fault if I have crazy hair."

"Sure it isn't," Troy said.

Next, Gabriella dragged Troy to the object-knocking game which he smashed. The lady who supervised it looked extremely surprised.

"Surprise me," Gabriella said, after Troy asked her which prize she wanted.

After about 2 minutes of searching for the perfect prize for Gabriella, Troy finally found one.

"Are you done yet?" Gabriella whined.

"Yes, but don't look," Troy said.

Gabriella closed her eyes and Troy took a deep breath. He unclipped the hook of the necklace and put the chain around Gabriella's neck. Gabriella opened her eyes and looked down at the necklace. It was the yin necklace from the yin and yang pair. She looked up and saw that Troy was wearing the other necklace.

"Aww, Troy," Gabriella cooed, stepping forward to hug him. "This is so sweet."

Troy wrapped his arms around her thin frame, but then she stepped out of the embrace.

"I'm gonna wear this all the time now," she announced.

"Well, at least I didn't use all that effort for nothing," Troy said.

"As I've said before, you have such a lazy ass," Gabriella said.

"That's better than fat," Troy replied teasingly.

"Hey!" Gabriella exclaimed. "I do _not_ have a fat ass!"

"Sure you don't," Troy said.

Gabriella started running after Troy as he ran away to escape her wrath.

"I'll get you back for that one!"

HSM

"It's like catching lightning, the chances of finding someone like you," Gabriella sang to herself as she wrote down the lyrics.

"Gabriella?" Maria called from the kitchen.

"Coming, Mom!" Gabriella said, getting up from her desk and going into the kitchen. "This looks yummy."

"I hope it is," Maria said, sitting down opposite her daughter.

After they thanked the Lord for their food, they began to eat the delicious meal that Maria had cooked.

"Honey," Maria began. "Where did you get that from?" she asked.

"What?" Gabriella asked, with her mouth full.

"The necklace."

"Oh, Troy got it for me," Gabriella said. "Actually, he won it at the fair."

"Does her have the other one?" Maria asked.

"Who else would? He's my only friend."

"Friend?" Maria asked.

"What else is he supposed to be?" Gabriella questioned.

"Ahh, I don't know," Maria replied. "But you two seem so in love."

"We are _not_ in love!" Gabriella contradicted.

"Well, let's see," Maria said. "If a stranger were to guess whether you were friends or lovers, they would choose lovers. It's so obvious!"

"Is it really?" Gabriella asked shyly.

"See? You admitted it!"

"No! That's not what I meant!" Gabriella complained, blushing madly.

"That was unintentional," Maria said. "Lovers do things unintentionally."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm not in the mood to argue with you," Gabriella said, still smiling.

After they had finished eating, Gabriella went back up to her room to sleep.

HSM

"Troy!" Jack growled. "What the hell is that on your neck?"

"Oh, this?" Troy asked, looking as unknowing as possible. "It's a necklace."

"Is that the yang symbol?" Jack asked. "Who the hell has the other one?"

"Gabriella."

"TROY! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Jack bellowed. "HOW CAN YOU GO OFF WITH THAT… GIRL AND NEGLECT YOUR BASKETBALL PRACTICE? WHY IS YOU STUPID HEAD SO… IDIOTIC SOMETIMES?"

"Most of my genes probably came from you," Troy mumbled.

"SPEAK UP, BOY!"

"I said that most of my genes probably came from you," Troy repeated loudly.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Jack yelled in Troy's face, grabbing him by the hair and flinging him against the wall.

Troy's head hit the wall first and he could already feel the blood streaming through his hair. Another blow came to his jaw, and he cringed in pain when he felt it.

"YOU FILTHY IMBECILE! I AM ASHAMED TO CALL YOU MY NEPHEW!" Jack roared, slapping Troy on the cheek and kicking him in the gut.

After that, Jack left Troy on the ground to bleed and feel the pain in his whole body. Troy stayed there until the next morning.

HSM

As Gabriella was walking to school, her phone rang. Wondering who could be calling her at this time, she pulled out her phone from her pocket to see an unknown number. She hit the answer button.

"Hello?"

"Miss. Montez," the man greeted. "This is Coach Bolton."

Gabriella gulped in fear.

"So, Miss. Montez, how's life been treating you?" Jack asked randomly, with a hint of evil in his voice.

"It's very good, thank you," Gabriella said politely.

"How has Troy been treating you?" Jack asked, in the same tone.

"Very well," Gabriella replied awkwardly.

"Did you know that Troy is not allowed to be in a relationship with a girl?"

"Oh, we're not… we're not in a relationship," Gabriella clarified.

"Are you sure?" Jack questioned. "You know, there's no need to hide it from me."

"We're certainly not in a relationship," Gabriella said.

"Well, I advise you to stay away from Troy," Jack said.

Gabriella's face turned to one of shock, but she quickly changed back to her normal expression.

"What? Why?" she asked.

"You see, Troy is not mature enough to be socialising with girls, let alone boys. He hasn't learnt the basic skills to communicate," Jack explained illogically.

"But that's because you never taught him," Gabriella argued. "Besides, he's not even bad at talking to me. He's quite interesting actually."

"I still order you to stay away from him," Jack demanded.

"Why?" Gabriella asked. "Troy and I… we don't deserve this."

"Yes, you do," Jack said. He put his mouth closer to the speaker and whispered, "Or else… I'll kill your mother.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

For the next few days, Gabriella had been distancing herself from Troy, afraid for the safety of her mother. She knew that Jack would stick to his word and know that she had been with Troy, even if he wasn't in Albuquerque now. Jack Bolton was one smart man, but it was a pity that he used his intelligence and cunning nature for evil.

Wednesday

Gabriella wandered through the empty corridors, running her fingers along the lockers. The chatter from the cafeteria was loud enough for her to hear, even if she was standing in the opposite side of the building. When she heard the footsteps, she stiffened and waited for them to disappear. As soon as the stopped, she dared herself to look behind her to see who it was. Unfortunately, it was the boy she wished she wouldn't see.

"Gabriella?" Troy asked.

Gabriella didn't reply, but tilted her head to one side.

"I haven't seen you all day," Troy said, advancing towards her. "Where have you been?"

Gabriella started to back away from him until her back hit the wall behind her. Her eyes grew wide with fear and she opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words to.

"Kitten?' Troy asked suspiciously. "Why are you acting weird?"

Weird was an understatement.

"I… I don't feel well," Gabriella stuttered. "And I can't find the… the nurse!"

"It's just outside the cafeteria," Troy said. "We walk past it all the time."

"I… I'm sorry!" Gabriella exclaimed. "I'm not g-good at paying attention!"

With that, she ran off, leaving an utterly confused Troy to watch her flee away from him.

Thursday

During lunchtime, Troy decided to actually go into the cafeteria for the first time in his life. He didn't care if the whole school's eyes were on him. He just need to see Gabriella. He found her sitting alone at a big, empty table with her sandwich and bottle of water. Her face was almost emotionless and dull, with a hint of fear in her deep, brown eyes. Troy sat down next to her.

"Gabriella? Kitten, what's wrong?" Troy asked caringly. When Gabriella didn't answer, he asked again. "Gabriella? Really, tell me."

When he said that, Gabriella unscrewed the cap off her water bottle and began to drink from it heavily, as if she doing that 3-second-drinking-water-challenge. She drained the whole bottle and got up.

"I need to pee!" she said hastily, dropping the empty bottle on the table, in front of Troy, who stared at it curiously.

This was getting really weird.

Friday

Today, Troy couldn't be bothered to go to basketball training. Jack wasn't there, so what did it matter? He put on his helmet, turned on the engine to his motorbike, and sped down the road. At the normal place where he usually picked up Gabriella, he found her with her head down and her hair covering her face. He honked and when he did, Gabriella nearly jumped out of her skin, he notice.

"Are you coming?" he asked loudly.

Gabriella's eyes widened and she shook her head profusely, begin to sweat from the stress this was creating her. She began to walk away faster and faster, but of course, a motorbike can go faster than a human, so Troy caught up to her.

"Gabriella," he called. "Please tell me what's up. I need to know."

"I can't, Troy," Gabriella said, shaking her head.

"Why not?"

"I just can't, okay? Please understand," Gabriella begged.

"You've been acting weird since Wednesday!" Troy exclaimed. "You asked me where the nurse was, even though we've been there before and yesterday you drank all your water and said you needed to go to the bathroom! What the hell was that?"

"It's nothing, Troy," Gabriella said softly. "Just leave it."

"You know I won't," Troy said, racing ahead of her and leaving her behind.

Gabriella sighed.

Sometimes life was just too hard.

That lunch, Gabriella had come up with a new day's resolution. Un-cliché, I know. She had decided that she was going to act completely normal with Troy, but come up with an excuse as to why she was so jumpy and weird.

So when Troy came to sit with her again, she put her plan into action.

"Hey, Troy!" she said, far too enthusiastically that she inwardly cringed.

Troy, himself, looked completely weirded out. Talk about unexpected. He narrowed his eyes.

"I feel like jumping on the rooftop and telling the world that I've gone mental!" she announced cheerily.

"You go do that," Troy said, opening his bottle of water.

"You should come with me!" Gabriella suggested excitedly. "It'll be fun!"

"Totally," Troy mumbled, still very confused.

"Can you come with me to the gym?" Gabriella asked.

"Why?"

"I want to graffiti new lines on the gym floor. Then everyone will get mixed up," Gabriella said.

Troy eyes her suspiciously, but looked down at his food again.

"You _are_ going insane," Troy muttered.

"Wonderful!" Gabriella beamed.

There was a slight pause before Troy spoke.

"Gabriella, why are you acting so weird. This morning you would hardly talk to me."

Gabriella's eyes lit up. So much for being a good actress.

"I'm on my period!" she said, grinning madly. "Do you want to see?"

Troy looked at her strangely, wondering if she was for real or not.

"No thanks," he declined, watching Gabriella's face fall, but it lit up again.

"Oh, well!" she said happily. "Your loss, then."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Troy asked.

"I feel extraordinarily extraordinary today!" Gabriella declared, smiling big.

"You're weird."

HSM

After cleaning up at the café, Gabriella sat on her living room couch, resting her legs on the table and fiddling with her necklace. She looked down to admire it and then sighed. Tonight was the night of prom. Of course, there was no way Gabriella was going. She had no reason to anyway. Maria was out at a work conference and wouldn't be home until late at night, possible past midnight if something came up.

After fixing herself a quick dinner, she went upstairs to her bedroom and quickly decided to finish off some homework while eating it. School was becoming a hassle nowadays for her, as her jobs began to get harder and her homework load started to become heavier and heavier. On top of that, much of her time was wasted by the amount of time she spent walking to and from school and to work. Talk about annoying!

When she had finished most of her homework, she laid down on her bed, feeling the need to procrastinate and rest. Sure, she was extremely jealous about all the people who went to prom without her, not that she had anyone to go with. She figured that Troy was not the 'prom' type of person, but it's not like he would ask her anyway. But she _and_ him weren't going and that was what mattered.

Suddenly, there was a tapping noise at the glass doors to her balcony. Hoping that it wasn't a serial killer, she walked slowly towards the closed curtains and pulled them to the side, but only slightly. She peeped through the hole that she had created and sigh when she saw Troy standing there. Gabriella wondered how he got up, but then remembered about the tree that stood right in front of the balcony. He probably quickly scaled up it.

She opened the door and invited Troy into her room.

"What's up?" she asked.

Troy shrugged.

"Oh, you know, I just wanted to come over and say hi. We're both not at prom, so what else is there to do? Besides, I don't want to feel like a loner at home," he explained.

"Oh," was all Gabriella said.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Troy finally spoke up.

"So… what were you doing?"

"Just finishing off some homework," Gabriella replied.

"Kitten?" Troy asked.

"Yeah?"

"You were acting really weird at lunch today," he said. "Why?"

Gabriella froze, wondering what to say to him, but instead of replying the way she should've, she asked him a completely different question.

"Can you dance with me?" was her question.

"What?" Troy asked, bewildered.

"You heard me," Gabriella said. "Please dance with me."

"What? Why?"

"Because… I thought that since we're not at prom, we can make up for it by dancing here," she lied. She had a completely different reason. "Come to the balcony. I'll put some music on."

She grabbed Troy hand and pulled him up, bringing him outside to the lamp-lit balcony that he had just been standing on. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Troy's face. It was handsome, beautiful and mesmerizing, but also completely confused and puzzled. She pressed play on the radio and started to sway with Troy.

"Gabriella… really… what's wrong?" Troy asked.

"Let's not think about that right now," Gabriella said, closing her eyes and feeling the music. "Just savor the moment we're in."

Troy continued to dance with her, even though he was confused out of his mind. Something was definitely going to happen. He twirled her and dipped her when it seemed appropriate in the music, and couldn't help but admire how graceful and peaceful she looked when she was dancing, not to mention beautiful. It would be a crime not to admit that Gabriella was pretty. Her soft, curly, brown hair flowed down her back and sometimes covered her gorgeous face, which didn't deserve to be covered. It deserved to be complimented and exposed.

Troy smiled when he thought of how beautiful Gabriella looked every day when she came to school. Even when she was at work and wearing his helmet, she was beautiful. There was no denying that. He loved how perfectly God had shaped her face, how big and brown her eyes were and her small nose that seemed to suit her. Her soft lips that looked extremely kissable and her small chin that made her look even more perfect. How could she look like such an angel?

When the music stopped, Troy and Gabriella found themselves in a hugging position where both of them were wrapped in each other's arms. Troy rested his chin on top of Gabriella's head as he wrapped his arms around her waist and Gabriella leant into his chest with her arms around his neck.

"Troy?" Gabriella said shyly. "I need to tell you something."

She backed away from the embrace and looked up sadly at Troy.

"I-I can't do this," she said.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Troy asked, sensing that something bad was going to happen.

"I can't do this anymore," she repeated. "I mean, we can't see each other anymore."

"What? Why?" Troy asked helplessly.

"It's just not going to work," Gabriella explained. "I know we've been through a lot together, but it's… it's not meant to be."

Gabriella reached up to her neck and took off her necklace. She looked down at it in her hands and sighed. She looked up to see Troy's sad and heartbroken eyes and almost burst into tears, but she didn't.

"Why are you saying all this? Why can't we still be friends?" Troy asked.

"We'll be much more than friends, Troy – much, much more, but it won't work out. You and I, we come from different places, we have different beliefs and different stories. Please understand me when I say this, but it's not going to work," Gabriella said softly, gripping Troy's hands in hers.

"That's the problem. I _don't_ understand!"

"Please don't be mad, Troy," Gabriella begged. "We can't do this anymore. It's not going to work."

Gabriella let her necklace slip into Troy's hands and she slipped back into her bedroom, closing the door and blinds, leaving Troy outside on the balcony to stare at the necklace in heartbreak. He thought about knocking again, but then decided that it was better to just go home. So that's why Gabriella was acting so weird; she had to cut off their friendship.

But why?

HSM

Gabriella and Troy didn't speak for weeks. When Jack came home from LA, he was satisfied to see his nephew's depressed face and tired features. He knew that Gabriella had talked to Troy and told him what was to happen. He grinned to himself, knowing what to do next.

Not only was Troy depressed, but Gabriella was too. She believed she was close to failing her classes and her social life was not much better. She barely spoke to anyone, hardly ate and mostly just rested on her bed, even when it was bright and sunny. Maria knew something was up, but she figured she would leave her daughter alone for a while, hoping that Gabriella would be able to solve her problems.

It was a Wednesday in the last week of June and Jack was ready to tell Gabriella Anne Montez her fate. As Gabriella was almost falling asleep in class, her eyes flew open when she heard her name being spoken into the speaker.

"Can Gabriella Montez please report to Coach Bolton's office."

Gabriella groaned in disgust, but still gathered her stuff and left. She walked all the way to the gym office and knocked on the door.

"Come in," called the evil voice of Jack Bolton, which she had grown to hate.

Gabriella reluctantly opened the door and closed it behind her.

"Sit," Jack said, pointing to the seat in front of his desk. Gabriella sat. "Miss. Montez, there are a few things I need to discuss with you."

'Oh, great,' Gabriella groaned inwardly.

"What you did, I appreciate," Jack said. "Breaking off your friendship with Troy is probably the wisest, most obedient and considerate thing you've ever done for him. Secondly, remember when I told you that I would kill Maria if you stayed with Troy? Well, I lied."

"What do you mean?" Gabriella asked slowly.

"Gabriella Montez, are you honestly not smart enough to know that I wouldn't just threaten you because of Troy? There are more important things that are needed to be done and I have the great honor of fulfilling them. Go home and check on Maria – she may be hurt, or even… dead."

Gabriella's hands flew to her mouth and she fled out of the room with her books and pencils, missing the evil in Jack's threatening gaze. She grabbed her bag and ran all the way home, eager to see if her mother really was dead.

Gabriella burst through the front door, flung her bag to god knows where and went straight to kitchen in search of her mother. She checked under the dining table, inside the cupboards, in the dishwasher and even in the oven. When she couldn't find her, she moved on to the living room, but she wasn't there either.

After searching the whole lower floor, she ran upstairs to her mother's room and bathroom. She wasn't there. Then came Gabriella's room. She opened the door and right there on her bed was her mother.

Gabriella nearly fainted in heartbreak, but she quickly grasped the doorframe and steadied herself. Maria Montez was sprawled across the bed, unbreathing, with a knife stabbed into the left side of her chest. Obviously, she had put on a fight because she was bloodied everywhere else too - on her face, legs, arms and hands. Gabriella grabbed the handle of the knife and pulled it out, cringing at the excess blood that spilled as it came out. She placed her ear where Maria's heart was, praying that a faint heartbeat would be heard, but there was nothing.

Tears spilled from her eyes and she screamed out in agony, making sure that everyone in the neighbourhood would hear her. She punched every wall in her room, kicked every door until it fell off its hinges, pulled out every last bit of stuffing from every couch and tore down every photograph of her mother that was framed. Finally, she sank down in the corner of her closet, sobbing loudly and desperately, wishing that she was dead.

But then, she remembered why she was home in the first place. Jack had hinted about her mother's death and he was right about it. Maybe he left something behind. Gabriella stood up slowly, hanging on the clothes for the support of her trembling legs. She began to walk towards her bed again and searched around her mother's body for any clues.

As soon as she was about to give up, her hand felt a piece of paper under Maria's similar curly, brown hair. She took it out and read it.

 _Miss. Montez,_ _  
_ _Happy belated birthday. I gave you this present to remind you that your life will never be perfect. Enjoy!_

Well, of course her life would never be perfect. It was already the complete opposite. First her father, now her mother. On top of that, she had no friends. She knew who did it. It was quite obvious. Many people addressed her as 'Miss. Montez', but only one was evil enough to murder her mother.

"I'm going to kill him," Gabriella whispered to herself, between her teeth. "Even if I have to travel around the world fifty times or dig to the earth's core to find him. I will kill him."

Gabriella put the note down on the bed and sat down next to her mother. She stroked her hair and clasped their hands together, whispering promises to her.

"I will hunt him down and kill him, no matter what it takes. I will avenge you, dear mother, even if it takes me out of this solar system," she vowed. "Trust me Mom, I will do this."

That night, Gabriella spent hours looking after her dead mother. She cleaned up all the blood stains from her skin, plucked pretty flowers from the garden and carried her to a better place to rest in peace. She took her to the couch in front of the fireplace and placed her on the mat in front of it.

"Rest now," Gabriella whispered into Maria's ear. "And keep warm."

After placing a blanked over her, Gabriella was in no mood to eat. She went back upstairs and took out a photo album from under her bed. She sat down and opened it, smiling with tears in her eyes at the pictures of her and her family that were glued on.

The first picture was of a newborn Gabriella who was being cradled in Maria's arms. Carlos was standing right behind her and they were both smiling happily at the camera, proud of their first daughter.

A few pages later, Gabriella found a picture that was taken just before Carlos died. It was one of the three of them. Carlos was sitting on a stool, playing his guitar and Maria was opposite him, sitting with a microphone. Gabriella was in the middle with her toy microphone, singing her heart out in front of the Christmas tree. That was a week before Carlos died and he was let out of the hospital for Christmas.

There were a few pictures after that. They were mostly of Gabriella by herself, but occasionally, Maria would appear in some. Maria absolutely loved taking pictures of her daughter - when she was eating, drawing, playing, singing and everything in between. The mother and daughter bond was due to bring heartbreak someday.

With a sigh, Gabriella closed the book and placed it back under her bed. She glanced at the clock and realised that it was already 3 in the morning. What was the point of going to sleep if she had to wake up a couple of hours later? She went back downstairs and made herself a coffee with an exponential amount of caffeine to keep her awake. She hated the taste of coffee, but at least it was good for something.

After she had finished drinking it, she went to her bathroom to wash her face. Everything was hers now. The whole house was her inheritance, including everything in it. But that would mean she would have to work harder to earn the money to pay taxes. Maybe being alone was not the best idea.

Gabriella splashed the cold tap water on her face and looked up at her reflection in the mirror. She stared into her dull brown eyes that seemed to emit no signs of happiness. They bored everyone. Her skin tone was dull as well. It was pale, emotionless and less alive than any other part of her body. They blush in her cheeks that she usually had was gone and her mouth was no longer curved upwards at the edges like it usually was. Her hair was a mess too. It looked like she had been in a war for a year and never washed it or comes it once during that time.

There was only one word to describe her.

Dull.

If that was not enough, she felt empty and disgusting inside as well. How could she be so stupid to fall for Jack's trick. If Jack's trick resulted in her losing her loved ones, she was an idiot. An asshole of an idiot too. She felt the pain in her heart worsen as she thought about Jack attacking her mother. It must've been bloody and... brutal and heartbreaking to watch it.

After a good half an hour of staring at herself in the mirror, Gabriella spotted the sun rising from the horizon and decided that it was time to get ready for school. Of course she had to go to school. If she didn't, she would have to either make up an excuse or tell the authorities the truth. She wanted to wait until she was ready to show Jack that he wasn't really any better than everyone else.

Not bothering to wear her usual clothes, Gabriella threw on a tank top, sweat pants and a hoodie so she could cover her disorganised hair. She didn't bother with her usual makeup routine as she knew she would still looked dead, even if she layered her skin with foundation and concealer. Nothing would stop her appearance from looking like junk. Gabriella grabbed her phone and her bag, went downstairs to kiss her mother goodbye and walked straight out the door, carefully locking it behind her so no one would be able to get in.

She speed-walked all the way to school, not caring if bystanders were watching her and wondering why she was in such a hurry. Honestly, she wasn't in a hurry, she just needed to walk fast to clear her mind. As soon as she got to school, people began to stare at her and her dead expression. Many of them started whispering to each other about 'the girl who disappears in the middle of the day and shows up the next day with a face that looked like shit'. Others were considerate enough to question whether she was healthy or not. But did Gabriella care? No, not one bit.

After shoving past numerous people in the corridor, she arrived at her locker and shoved her bag in, not caring about anything else in the world that was going on. She slammed her locker door shut and began walking in the same direction she had been walking in before. As she was walking, she looked up to see none other than her mother's murderer walking straight towards her. She sent him her deadliest death glare, making people stare at her in bewilderment. Jack just grinned at her evil before turning into a classroom. Gabriella kept walking straight and turned a corner. But what she didn't notice was the blue-eyed boy who was watching her every move.

Troy ran after Gabriella as silently as he could. When she was about to open the door to go to outside to the secluded 'backyard', he grabbed the ban of her hoodie and pinned her against the wall. He caged her between his arms and analysed her face, taking note of her bare and dead features.

"Troy! Get the fuck off me!" Gabriella demanded, her eyes blazing like fire.

"No," Troy replied stubbornly. "Not until you tell me what the hell Jack did to you."

"What makes you think that Jack did something to me?" Gabriella asked, desperately trying to remove Troy's arms from around her, but failing to.

"You just sent him the scariest death glare I have ever seen. No one does that unless that person did something to them," Troy said, making sure to keep his hands stuck on the wall.

Gabriella laughed maniacally and shook her head.

"You must be mistaken. Jack did absolutely nothing to me. I don't know what you're talking about."

Troy paused and stared into Gabriella's dull eyes, concerned.

"I know you, Gabriella. Something happened and I'll get it out of you sometime," he said, removing his arms from around Gabriella.

After that, he walked off, leaving a perplexed Gabriella staring after him. Gabriella rubbed her temples and shook her head, continuing on her journey to the 'backyard'.

Life couldn't be real.

HSM

That afternoon, Troy skipped basketball practice, knowing that Gabriella wouldn't have gone to work. He drove his motorbike into her driveway, took off his helmet and went to the front door. Weighing the pros and cons of whether to knock or just go in uninvited, he decided not to knock, risking getting caught by Maria. He slowly twisted the doorknob, making sure to make the least noise possible. He pushed the door until it was slightly ajar and saw that the downstairs lights were all off, meaning that Maria and Gabriella were either upstairs or not at home.

He stepped into the house, cautious of the floorboard that he knew squeaked and closed the door behind him. He ventured into the living room and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Maria laying in front of the unlit fireplace with the blanket on top of her and flowers scattered around her. That was so unlike Maria to sleep on the floor when she had a proper bed, especially with flowers. Troy didn't bother to check on anything else, so he started walking up the stairs. Luckily the stairs were covered in carpet, otherwise he would've surely been heard coming up.

As soon as he arrived at Gabriella's slightly opened door, he noticed that she was curled up in a ball on her bed. Her back was faced towards him and her arms were wrapped around her knees, as if she was in some sort of closed space and if she spread out, she would be pricked by thousands of needles and sent into a million year sleep.

Troy pushed the door slightly, so he could fit through the gap and slip through easily. He walked over to the bed and looked down at Gabriella who seemed to be sleeping soundly. He didn't notice Gabriella's breathing quicken as she woke up because he was too busy observing her body language.

"Troy, I know you're there," Gabriella said, watching his shadow twitch a little.

"You're not at work," Troy stated, saying the obvious.

"I know," Gabriella replied. "But you should be at basketball, not here."

Troy sat down on the bed and Gabriella felt the bed shift.

"I need to know that you're okay. I told you this morning that I was going to find out what happened and I'm going to. So please tell me; what happened?" Troy asked.

"It's none of your business," Gabriella mumbled, rolling over more on the bed.

"Oh, yes it is," Troy said, pulling her back towards him. "If you're coming to school looking so dead and not going to work, something's up and I'm not letting that slide past me."

"Troy," Gabriella said sitting up. "A few weeks ago, I said that we couldn't be friends anymore. I didn't do that because I wanted to. I was threatened, but they killed my mother anyway."

"Wait..." Troy interrupted, his eyes wide with shot. "Please tell me I didn't hear that correctly - killed your mother?" he choked.

Gabriella nodded.

"You heard me. My mother is dead. I have no family, no money and this big house to myself. What am I supposed to do?" she asked, silently begging for help.

Troy pulled Gabriella up until she was in a sitting position next to him. He held her close and stroked her hair lovingly. A few tears leaked from Gabriella's eyes and onto Troy's shirt, but at this point, he didn't really care. He tightened the embrace, letting her know that he understood and was always there to comfort her and be with her when she needed him.

When her tears stopped, Gabriella lifted her head up from Troy's chest.

"She's in the living room. Do you want to see her?" she asked.

"I already saw her when I came in," Troy said. "But I'll come if you want."

"I want to get some flowers for her," Gabriella said.

"Okay," Troy said, standing up from the bed. "I'll come."

They were halfway out the door when Gabriella suddenly stopped Troy, making him stop abruptly and nearly trip down the stairs.

"Wait!" she exclaimed suddenly. "I need to show you something."

Gabriella rushed back into he room and frantically began to search around for something.

"Take your time," Troy offered. "I'm in no hurry."

Gabriella didn't stop though, she was flinging her bed sheets around the room and ripping clothes out of her closet, as well as throwing pencils at the windows and ripping out the feathers from her pillows.

"Gabriella," Troy said. "Slow down!"

"I. Need. To. Find. It!" Gabriella replied, holding 5 of her textbooks between her teeth and juggling her phone and her laptop on her feet. "This is very important!"

After 5 minutes of waiting, Troy heard Gabriella make a successful sound and looked up to see her holding a tiny piece of paper out to him. Troy took the paper and read the massage, frowning with every word.

"What the hell is this?" he demanded, even though he completely knew who wrote it.

"I think it's quite easy to tell, just by how the person addressed me," Gabriella said.

"Can you tell me everything that happened," Troy said. "Everything."

"Later," Gabriella said. "Right now, I want to buy flowers for my mother."

"Okay," Troy agreed. "I'll take you."

Gabriella nodded and walked downstairs, leading Troy outside and to his motorbike, after she locked the door. He gave her the helmet and got on. Gabriella hopped on behind him and held onto his waist, waiting for him go. Troy parked in front of the nearest flower shop, which was only a few minutes away.

The shop's doorbell chimed when it was opened and Gabriella went straight to the counter. The young girl smiled at Gabriella warmly and asked what they wanted.

"Do you have lilies?" she asked.

"We sure do," the girl said, ducking under the counter. "What colour?"

"Maybe like a white-pink colour," Gabriella said.

"What's your mom's second favourite flower?" Troy hissed.

"Roses," Gabriella replied.  
The girl emerged from under the counter, holding a bouquet of flowers that was neatly kept inside some sort of transparent plastic sheet and pink tissue paper, wrapped by a curly ribbon.

"Would you like anything else?" the girl asked.

"Do you have any roses?" Troy asked.

"Tons," the girl replied, smiling sweetly and disappearing under the counter again. "Colour?"

Troy turned to Gabriella and asked what colour Maria liked. Apparently, Maria liked plain red roses, so Troy told the girl that.

Soon enough, the girl came up from under the counter again, but this time she came up with a bouquet of roses that was wrapped in the same plastic but red tissue paper and the same sort of ribbon.

"Is that it?" the girl asked.

"Yes, thanks," Gabriella said, getting out some money from her pocket and turning to Troy. "Don't bother paying. It's my mother after all."

"No, but I should pay for my flowers since it's my gift to her," Troy objected.

"Okay, fine," Gabriella said, turning back to the girl. "Do you offer split bills?

"Yes, we do," the girl replied. "That will be $10 each, please," she said politely.

Gabriella and Troy bother gave in their money. The girl filed it into the register and gave them the receipt.

"Thanks for buying your flowers here," she said, waving cheerily. "Have a nice day!"

"Thank you," Troy said back. "You too!"

The doorbell chimed again as they walked out of the shop with their flowers and stopped in front of the motorbike.

"How are we supposed to carry these back?" Gabriella asked.

"I'll go back and see if they have bags," Troy said.

"No, I'll go," Gabriella said, handing her flowers to Troy. She seemed to be taking responsibility for everything that had to do with her mother. Who could blame her, though?

She went back into the shop and saw the girl's head pop up from behind the counter again.

"Do you have any bags?" Gabriella asked.

"Oh, yes," the girl said, bending down to retrieve a bag from under the counter. "Sorry, I should've asked before."

"It's okay," Gabriella said, taking the bags from the girl. "Thank you so much!"

"No problem!"

Gabriella heard the bell chime fore the four time as she walked outside to see Troy, awkwardly leaning against his motorbike with a bouquet of flowers in each of his hands. She opened the bag so he could up the flowers inside. Luckily, it was a big bag so the flowers would fall out.

"I'll just hold it," Gabriella offered.

"If you want," Troy replied, trying to be polite when she was in her mournful state. Otherwise, he would've said something like, 'you can be my servant from now on.'

They drove home with the flowers staying in one piece, even though there were many of them. Gabriella got off first and unlocked the door. Troy followed her into the living room and kneeled beside Maria's dead body.

Gabriella gave Troy the roses and unwrapped the wrapping from her flowers. She took one of her lilies and placed it in Maria's hands so she looked like she was holding them close to her stabbed heart. Troy did the same. Together, they scatter their flowers around Maria, making the place she was resting in a sacred and peaceful place. By now, there were so many flowers around her that she was almost buried under them, barely visible.

"Rest in peace, Mother," Gabriella whispered. "You will be avenged."

HSM

Troy couldn't decide whether to stay with Gabriella, or to go back home and face his father. Staying with Gabriella meant that he would be in more trouble, but going back home meant he might blurt out something about Maria, which he didn't intend to. He glanced down at Gabriella, who was peacefully sleeping on the couch, wrapped up in her usual fetal position. He wondered whether he should take her back upstairs to her bed.

Troy hadn't eaten dinner yet and it seemed like Gabriella hadn't either. He walked into the kitchen and opened up the fridge, hoping there would be something he could use, but there was nothing. With a sigh, he took out his phone and dialled the pizza number, ordering a margarita pizza, which he learned was Gabriella's favourite. 20 minutes later, the pizza delivery man knocked on the door and Troy happily accepted the box of food, paying for it and closing the door.

When he walked back into the living room, he saw that Gabriella was sitting up, having been awoken by the sound of the doorbell. She turned around when she heard Troy coming back and eyed the pizza box in his hand. He opened it up on the table and offered her some.

"I don't want to eat," Gabriella refused, pushing the slice he held out to her away.

"I bet you haven't eaten for a while," Troy said, insisting. "Come on, you need to eat."

"I'm not hungry," Gabriella argued.

Troy set the pizza down and crossed his arms.

"I know what you're thinking," Troy said. "And you don't have to think that. Just because of what happened doesn't mean it's disrespectful to eat and nourish yourself."

"It is," Gabriella mumbled, looking everywhere but Troy. "I shouldn't be enjoying myself after all the pain she went through."

"But that's different," Troy said. "You _need_ to eat, you don't _want_ to eat."

"I don't see any difference," Gabriella said stubbornly.

"You may not, but I do," Troy said, picking up the pizza again. "I'm not gonna stop until you have at least _one_ slice."

Gabriella groaned, but still accepted the pizza. She reluctantly took a few bites out of it and swallowed them without chewing. Troy observed her intently, watching carefully to see if she ate all of it without complaining.

Gabriella looked miserable, but he couldn't blame her. She was curled up in a ball, refusing to eat any more of her favourite food. Troy sighed. He could just preserve it in the fridge for her to eat for a few days. He couldn't imagine how Gabriella felt at the moment, after her mother just died. Sure, his parents had both been killed too, but he couldn't remember it. It was completely different.

"Troy?" Gabriella asked softly, opening her eyes the slightest.

Troy's head shot up. "Yeah?"

Gabriella inhaled and exhaled deeply, while Troy stared at her intently, waiting for her to continue.

"What do I do now?" she asked, still breathing heavily, as if she was about to burst into tears at any moment. "I have no parents and no money. I'm lost," she confessed, looking sadly at the ground.

Troy paused, glancing around the room at her possessions.

"I'll talk to you about the parents part later, but about the money, if you want to, you could possible sell some things in the house that you don't need. You could even sell the house and buy or rent a smaller one. That way, you'd have some money left for other personal needs."

Gabriella nodded, taking all this in. She took a deep breath and looked at Troy, shyly.

"Would you... would you be able to stay... with me sometimes? If I do that?" she asked timidly.

Troy looked at her, wondering if she really meant that she wanted him with her or not. When Troy didn't answer straightaway, Gabriella's face turned bright red in embarrassment, thinking about her needy request.

"But you don't have to if you don't want to," she said hastily, hoping that Troy wouldn't think she was some sort of creepy and clingy girl.

"No, I would," Troy interrupted. "There's no need to be embarrassed. I'm just think about how to get Jack off my back." He said Jack's name with hate in his voice.

"Oh, yeah," Gabriella said quietly. "Jack… I hate him."

"That's normal," Troy said. "But I guess we can't really do anything. We don't have any proof of what he did."

"What about the baby monitor?" Gabriella asked.

"Everyone would think it's me," Troy explained.

"Wait, but doesn't it have like a date and time on it?" Gabriella asked.

"Unfortunately, no," Troy said. "Speaking of Jack, do you want to go to school tomorrow? I can't judge if you don't want to."

Gabriella shrugged dully.

"Well, I guess I should go, but I don't really feel like it. I also need to work something out for my life... so..."

Troy shifted his position so he was laying on his side, propped up by his arm.

"That's fine with me," he said. "Do you want me to stay with you?"

"You don't have to, you know. Just being here right now is enough. You don't need to waste your time on me," Gabriella said, looking anywhere but Troy.

Troy frowned and stood up, walking over to the couch on which Gabriella sat. He sat down next to her and pulled her up, wrapping his arm around her. Gabriella looked up at Troy, intently, waiting for him to speak.

"Gabriella," Troy began. "I want you to know that being here with you is never wasting my time... actually, it's probably what I should be doing. What sort of a person would I be if I just left you here... by yourself... and went on with my own life? I would be a stupid, selfish, inconsiderate and idiotic idiot."

Gabriella giggled cutely at his choice of words and snuggled up to him, letting her head rest on her chest.

"Thanks, Troy," she mumbled. "That means a lot."

"I'm staying with you until you get sick of me," Troy stated.

"I'd never get sick of you, so I'm glad," Gabriella said bashfully, smiling into Troy's chest and tracing his abs - and Jack thought his abs weren't hard enough!

Troy smiled and kissed Gabriella's hair and laid his head on top of hers. There they stayed for the long night, until it was time to wake up.

"Kitten?" Troy said softly. "It's morning."

Gabriella groaned and rolled over, obviously not in the mood to open her eyes and get off the couch, but she did as Troy suggested and sat up, rubbing her eyes and stretching her limbs.

"Good morning," she greeted Troy, with a small smile. "I think I should go and shower."

"Yeah, you should," Troy said absentmindedly.

"Rude."

Troy smiled to himself, glad that Gabriella was turning back to her normal, upbeat self. He watched her walk upstairs and decided to make some breakfast. He searched the cupboards for some form of food, but couldn't find anything. He figured Gabriella wouldn't want to eat much anyway.

Gabriella came back down the stairs wearing a yellow sundress, which contrasted with her skin tone very well. It was spaghetti strap, but it wasn't tight around her body. Troy looked up, watching her descend the stairs. She looked beautiful, but why?

"You look... beachy?" he said, more as a question than a statement.

Gabriella pulled out one of the stools from under the counter and sat on it, resting her arms on the table.

"I've decided to look at this... situation for a different perspective," she began. "Which means that I'm not going to be all sad and grumpy like 'help me, I'm gonna fail at life'. I'll view the incident as the line between my protective childhood and my days as an independent woman."

"That's good," Troy said, respecting her choice of view. "Does that mean you're going to eat more?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll take you out to breakfast."

HSM

Troy drove Gabriella to a breakfast parlour in which they could order any thing from cereal to pancakes. They were seated at a table with chairs opposite each other. Troy pulled out Gabriella's chair for her and she smiled fondly at him.

"When did you learn to be a gentleman?" she asked, shocked, but touched.

Troy sat down opposite her.

"Well, ever since you told me to be a gentleman, I've been buying and borrowing books and reading articles online on the subject," he said, making his tone of voice sound inspirational and like he worked so hard.

Gabriella raised an eyebrow and rearranged the menu and cup of water on her table to suit her.

"How very dedicated of you," she finally said, opening up her menu and scanning through the pages.

"Have you chosen what you want?"

"Yes, you?"

Gabriella nodded and a waitress came to attend to their table. The waitress took down their orders and asked if they wanted anything else. This slow waitress finally noticed that it was just Troy and Gabriella, sitting by themselves like a couple.

"Oh my gosh! You two look adorable together! How long?" the waitress asked.

Gabriella looked at Troy and together, they communicated with their eyes and decided to play along.

"About 10 years, ma'am," Troy replied, his blue eyes twinkling as he grinned mischievously at Gabriella. "You can never get sick of her."

The waitress' shocked face was definitely something to remember. It was absolutely priceless.

"No, sir," the waitress said. "I mean, how long have you been together, not how long have you been friends."

"10 years," Troy repeated.

"And how old are you guys?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"17," Gabriella said.

"Interesting," the waitress said.

Troy almost burst out laughing at the fun and decided to take this trick a step further.

"Actually," Troy began. "I'm going to propose to her this morning - can you help me?"

Gabriella nearly choked on her water with laughter, but managed to keep it in. The waitress looked at both of them strangely, wondering why the boy exposed the surprise.

"How can I help?" she questioned.

Troy frowned and looked around the parlour.

"Do you sell rings here?" he asked. "I don't have one yet."

The waitress stared at Troy in disbelief and shook her head.

"No, we do not."

Troy briefly glanced down at the waitress' ring finger and smiled slyly to himself.

"Can I use yours? I promise I'll give it back to you in a few years."

The waitress' face was now the picture of a mix of aghast, worried and shocked. Weird teenagers who tried to steal her engagement ring.

"I'll go put in your order," she said, hurrying away.

As soon as she was out of sight, Troy and Gabriella burst into fits of laughter. Luckily, none of them had water in their mouths or else it would have been spat everywhere.

"That was amazing, Troy!" Gabriella laughed. "How did you think of that?"

"I used my brain," Troy shrugged. "You should try it sometime."

Gabriella stuck her tongue out at him.

"Rude," she said. "Imagine if someone actually said that they were going to propose to someone, right in front of the person they were going to propose to. That would ruin everything!"

The waitress came back holding the two plates of delicious-looking pancakes and set them on the table. She studied the two teenagers who seemed to have been laughing a lot. After placing the plates on the table, she hurriedly stumbled away, not wanting to be in that situation ever again.

"How's yours?" Gabriella asked, with her mouth full.

"Pretty good," Troy replied. "You want some?" he asked, holding out some pancake on his fork to Gabriella. Gabriella gladly accepted it and bit it off his fork.

"That's good," she said, after swallowing. "Do you want some of mine? It's got sprinkles."

"Okay," Troy replied, taking some of Gabriella's pancake and popping it into his mouth. "Nice."

When they had finished, Troy called the waitress to deliver the cheque. He glanced at it and closed the cover so Gabriella wouldn't be able to peek.

"Hey!" Gabriella said. "It's my turn to pay!"

"No, you never pay," Troy said, ignoring the bewildered waitress, who was standing next to their table. "Remember what you said about being a gentleman?"

"I wish I never said that," Gabriella said regretfully. "That ruined everything."

"Well, it's your fault for ruining everything," Troy said harshly, putting on a show for the waitress.

"How dare you!" Gabriella exclaimed. "You know what? You pay! I'm out of here!"

Gabriella pushed her seat back and walked out of the parlour angrily. The waitress stared after her, confused.

"Looks like someone's not getting married," Troy said, putting the cash into the cheque and handing it to the waitress. "She's a bitch anyway. Plus, I've got about 3 other girls, so I'm good to go."

Troy stood up and left the parlour, leaving an astonished waitress to watch him leave. He joined Gabriella who was smiling and waiting at his motorbike.

"So, what happened?" she asked him, grabbing the helmet and putting it on.

"I told her that we weren't getting married, that you were a bitch and that I had 3 other girls," Troy recounted, sitting on the motorbike.

Gabriella stifled a laugh and got on behind him.

"Are we going home now?" she asked, finally regaining her composure.

"No, not yet," Troy said. "I need to get some stuff from Walmart."

"Okay," Gabriella said. "Nice of you to drag me along."

"Be grateful, Kitten," Troy lectured, starting the engine. "Maybe we might start looking for houses for you afterwards.

"Sounds great!"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"What are you getting?" Gabriella asked, as they walked into Walmart together.

"You'll see," Troy replied vaguely, walking so fast that Gabriella had to almost run to keep up with him.

"Why are you rushing?" she asked. "We have time."

"There's a crowd of about 100 people outside," Troy said. "I don't want to get stuck in line."

Gabriella looked behind her, not having noticed the large group of people that had gathered outside to eat corn dogs while sitting on top of their cars.

"I didn't notice," Gabriella said.

"Of course."

"Rude."

Gabriella looked up at the sign that read 'Auto and Tires', wondering why Troy was heading there. He stopped at the shelves that held motorcycle helmets and scanned them to find what he was looking for. When he did, he bent down and picked up to of them. One of them was purple with a mother cat and a litter of kittens in a bed decorated on the sides. The other was white and had cat ears that stuck out and cat eyes and whiskers that would be visible on the outside, but transparent from the inside.

He held them out to Gabriella.

"Which one?" he asked.

Gabriella's heart melted at his offer. She felt touched, but not worthy enough to receive such a gift.

"Troy… you don't have to…" Gabriella stuttered.

"Yeah, I know that," Troy said, rolling his eyes. "But I'm doing it anyway."

Gabriella loved both of the helmets so much, that she couldn't choose between them.

"Uh… whichever one's the cheapest," she replied.

Troy glared at Gabriella.

"Gabriella…" he groaned. "Just choose one. I don't care if it's more expensive or cheaper. Choose the one you like."

Gabriella crossed her arms and tilted her head to one side. She analyzed both helmets, trying to decide which one to get. She like the purple one because it had color, but she also like the other helmet because it had ears and a cool design on the shield.

"I… I love both of them," Gabriella said helplessly. "I can't choose!"

"Do you want me to choose for you?" Troy asked.

"Yes, please."

Troy put back the purple one, saying that he didn't like it because the kittens didn't have a father.

"Try it on," Troy said, placing the helmet on Gabriella's head.

It fit perfectly.

Troy whipped out his phone and snapped a photo of her, smiling cheekily.

"Hey!" Gabriella complained from inside the helmet.

"Don't worry," Troy said, taking the helmet off her head. "You look fine."

He took the helmet off and tucked it under his arm, moving to the next section of the store.

"What else are you getting?" Gabriella asked, tagging along behind Troy.

"Marshmallows."

"I love marshmallows!" Gabriella exclaimed. "Can I please have some?"

"Yeah, sure," Troy replied, picking off the bag of marshmallows from the shelf.

After that, Troy led Gabriella to the self checkout register and scanned the items. He tapped a few buttons and when it came to paying, Gabriella started taking some money from her purse. Troy saw this and pushed her hand away.

"And what do you think you're doing?" he asked sternly.

"I'm paying," Gabriella said, as if it was obvious, which it was.

"No, you're not," Troy said.

"At least half," Gabriella protested.

"How about none?" Troy said, pushing his own cash into the register. Gabriella scowled and crossed her arms, turning her back on Troy to show that she was upset. Troy took his items and started walking out, forcing Gabriella to follow him. "C'mon Kitten. Stop whining and be grateful."

"I am grateful, but you didn't need to pay for the stuff," Gabriella said crossly.

"Yeah, well, I did," Troy said. "So stop complaining."

Troy tossed the bag of marshmallows to Gabriella and she caught it, her eyes full of need to eat!  
When they reached the motorbike, Troy passed the helmet to Gabriella, whose mood instantly changed to one of delight. Her eyes lit up as she ripped the plastic wrapping off of it, but as she did so, something fell out of it.

She bent down to pick it up and she almost burst out in tears of happiness as she fiddled with the necklace. Troy had given it back to her. She looked up into Troy's hopeful eyes and gave him the necklace.

"Can you put it on?" she asked.

Troy smiled at took the necklace from her, unclasping it and wrapping it around her neck. As he clasped it back together, Gabriella smiled as she touched the necklace.

"Done," Troy said.

"Thanks," Gabriella said, as she put the helmet on and smiled through it.

"You look like a freaky, cat woman... thing," Troy said nonchalantly.

"Gee, thanks," Gabriella said sarcastically.

"Anytime," Troy replied, starting the journey back home with his own helmet... for once.

HSM

"There's an apartment block not too far away from my house," Troy said. "I don't think it's too expensive."

"Let's take a look," Gabriella said, opening her laptop and going to Google. "What's it called?"

"Yellow Ocean Resort," Troy said, rolling his eyes.

"What sort of name is that?" Gabriella murmured, typing the name into the search bar. "Wait. It's a resort?"

"No," Troy shook his head. "It's an apartment block."

Contrary to what the colourful name of the apartment suggested, the website was black, white, brown and grey, and in other words - dull and boring. Gabriella clicked on the button that read 'vacancies' and waited for the page to slowly load.

 _Note: This page is updated every time we have a vacancy._

 _Currently, we have 9 vacancies in our apartment block. Please email yellowoceanresort if you would like to buy an apartment._

"How very professional," Gabriella commented, clicking on the email address. The page transferred her to her email and she began to type her message.

"How do I start this off? Hi? Hello? Dear? Good morning?" Gabriella asked.

"Do 'hi'," Troy instructed. "It's very casual."

"But isn't this a formal letter?" Gabriella asked, looking up at Troy.

"Yeah, but they'd be delighted to have someone who's unique," Troy argued.

"You make no sense," Gabriella said, but still did what Troy said.

 _Hi,_

 _My name is Gabriella Montez and I am currently looking for an apartment to buy. I am sixteen years old and am going to live by myself._

"What else do I say?" Gabriella asked. "Are you sure it's even legal for me to live alone? Without a guardian? God, I hope they don't put me up for adoption!"

"Me too," Troy said. "But if it's illegal, they just have to deal with it."

"Said like a man," Gabriella smirked, sending the email and shutting her laptop. "Done and dusted. I hope I get it."

"You'd better," Troy said. "You know what you should do? You should do a garage sale. That way, you would sell more things instead of advertising them."

"That's a great idea. I'll probably do that on the weekend or something, when I have time, but I still have work," Gabriella pondered.

"Maybe you should take a break from work, seeing as you have a lot of things going on in your life at the moment," Troy suggested.

"Maybe," Gabriella replied. "I'll see."

HSM

The next day, Troy and Gabriella decided that it would be best if they went to school. Troy thought that it would be beneficial for Gabriella if he could take her to school with him, so she didn't have to walk for so long. Instead of following her as she walked, he went straight to her house, which was in the opposite direction of the school, and knocked on her door.

Gabriella finished her makeup quickly and grabbed her helmet from her desk. Her helmet was now one of her most prized possessions, since she could have memories of her father, but also because Troy gave it to her as a gift. Gabriella knew that Troy wasn't the type of guy who gave gifts to people, especially girls, but she held it close to her heart because Troy had gotten it out of his own free will. But then again, he needed his own helmet, so it was one half of his free will. That was still nice though, right?

She grabbed her backpack and jumped down the stairs, excited to be back at school… with Troy, of course. Anyway, how would she be able to survive at school without him? He was like a gift from heaven. She skipped down the path that ran through her front law and stood hopped onto Troy's motorbike, placing her helmet on her head and grinning widely.

"You ready?" Troy asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be!" Gabriella replied, not even knowing why she was so enthusiastic.

Troy revved up the engine and sped off, making Gabriella's hair fly around wildly in the wind as it rushed beside their heads. When he arrived, in the school's parking lot, he dangerously turned into a parking space and braked abruptly.

"It had to be that sudden," Gabriella said, taking her helmet off. "Where do you put your helmet usually?"

"I just leave it here," Troy said. "But you can put it in your locker if you have space."

"Okay!" Gabriella said, happily, tucking the helmet under her arm and skipping off into the school.

Troy stared after her in disbelief. How did he get so lucky to have a friend that was so optimistic to brighten up his life? Maybe God was rewarding him for all the abuse he was put through. Maybe, just maybe, they would stay together forever.

Gabriella spun her locker's dial as fast as she could and placed the helmet at the bottom of her locker. She grabbed her books and shut her locker, but when she turned around, she was met face to face with Taylor McKessie. She smiled extra large and laughed. To herself and everyone else, she seemed drunk.

"And why are _you_ so over the moon today? You haven't been coming to school and attending classes as often as you should," Taylor sneered.

"You noticed?" Gabriella said cheerily, raising an eyebrow and not letting Taylor get the best of her. "I'm happy you care!"

"Don't be stupid, Gabriella," Taylor said, crossing her arms. "Why haven't you been at school?"

"My mom died!" Gabriella said, questioning herself as to why her tone of voice was so happy-go-lucky.

Taylor's mouth dropped wide open and she stared at Gabriella in disbelief, "Excuse me? You said you're mom died?"

Gabriella nodded and smiled, "Yeah!"

"And you're happy because…" Taylor narrowed her eyes at the brunette.

"It's the beginning of a new chapter in my life," Gabriella explained, spinning around and skipping down the hallways, towards homeroom.

Gabriella went into the home room classroom and sat in her chair at the back of the room. She smiled brightly at everyone who walked in and everyone looked back at her curiously in turn. She looked the out the window at the car park, but then decided to catch up on some pre-class textbook reading. Of course when she was away from school, she didn't have much time to do her homework with all the stuff that was happening, but she managed to do all of it the night before, being the intelligent person she was.

"Settle down, class!" Ms. Darbus said in her loud and obnoxious voice. She stood at the front of the classroom and began to list off the announcements. "Firstly, I'd like to welcome Miss. Montez back. She hasn't been with us for a few days," she eyes Gabriella threateningly, but Gabriella just smiled back. "Secondly, we are slowly nearing to the end of the school year and that calls for a celebration. We have a choice between a junior year play and a junior year dance. I, myself, would much prefer and highly recommend the play, but I am unfortunately not allowed to vote. So, please put up your hand if you want a play." Of course, Sharpay and her twin brother, Ryan, hands shot up immediately. A few other kids, including Troy, raised their hands and so did Gabriella. "Okay... now for the dance." Gabriella's hand shot up again and some other students too. "Miss. Montez, you cannot vote twice," Ms. Darbus frowned, watching her student's weird behaviour.

"I know," Gabriella replied. "I just don't know what to choose."

"You can only choose one," Ms. Darbus said.

"Okay..." Gabriella said, thinking about it. "Both!"

Ms. Darbus frowned and sighed. "Please, Miss. Montez, just because you've been away for a few days, doesn't mean that you get to hold up the whole class."

"I really can't choose, Ms. Darbus," Gabriella said. "But what you can do is to leave me out of this vote. Either way, my votes don't really affect anything."

A few kids were watching Gabriella, as if she were an alien from Pluto, wearing a sci-Fi outfit. Others just carried on with their own business, whether it was painting nails, texting friends that were in other home rooms, or complaining to their pencils about how school was the bigger hassle in their lives.

Sharpay Evans spoke up, "Maybe she's right, Ms. Darbus. Who knows, she might vote for the dance and change the outcome," she said smartly.

Ms. Darbus mused over the idea and finally came to a conclusion that Sharpay and Gabriella were right, "Okay, but the vote still goes to the dance. It's 11 to 8.

Sharpay made a sound, which sounded very much like a profanity, and she hit the table, attracting the attention of many students.

"What the hell are you looking at?" she yelled, making them all look away in fright and go back to what they were previously doing. Then, Sharpay leant back in her chair and twirled her hair around her finger with a sly smirk on her face.

Nothing was going to go wrong, right?

HSM

Taylor was on a mission. Her first plan to keep Troy and Gabriella apart failed, so now she was on plan B. She was going to expose all 'Gabriella's dirty, little secrets' to Coach Bolton so he could see who she really was... actually, it was more of him seeing a Gabriella who was made up by Taylor.  
She strutted down the corridor with a few pieces of 'evidence' in her hands, but as she neared the gym office, she stopped at the corner and frowned. There was shouting and slapping noises to be heard. Something was wrong.

She tiptoed towards the sounds and peeked into the window of the office. As soon as she stole a glance at what was happening, she removed her face from the window and leant her back on the wall for support, slapping her hand over her mouth before it could emit a gasp. She quickly peeped into the window again to see if what she was before was real. Yep, it was.

Coach Bolton, her favourite gym teacher, was in there with an extremely angry red face. So was Troy, only, he had a purple face. In other words, Coach Bolton was yelling and cursing at Troy while he kicked, punched and slapped him. Taylor almost burst into tears as she remembered how against Troy and Gabriella she had been. She now knew that Troy needed Gabriella and and because her mother died, Gabriella needed Troy too.

Without delay, Taylor ran away from the office and began to search the hallways and the cafeteria for Gabriella. She flung the cafeteria doors wide open, not caring for the world if people were staring at her. She spotted Gabriella sitting at a table by herself and ran over to her.

"Gabriella!" she cried, her own eyes filling with tears.

Gabriella looked up, but frowned when she saw Taylor's wreck of a face. "What's wrong?"

"Oh my god, Gabriella!" Taylor bawled. "I'm so sorry I didn't believe you! I promise I'll never be so naive again! Come with me!

Gabriella stood up, worried, and left her lunch on the table. She ran after Taylor, who had fled out of the cafeteria, and slammed the doors behind her, catching up with Taylor.

"Taylor! What's wrong?" Gabriella panted.

"Look!" Taylor exclaimed, pointing into the window of Coach Bolton's office.

Gabriella took a glance into the window and immediately paled.

"See?" Taylor cried. "I'm so sorry! We need to tell someone now!"

As Taylor made a move to leave, Gabriella yanked her arm, almost dislocating it.

"No, Taylor!" she hissed. "You can't!"

"Why not?" Taylor asked desperately.

"Because... because if you tell someone, Troy will end up as an orphan. He has no where else to go," Gabriella explained in one breath.

"But how are you living alone?" Taylor asked, terror filling her eyes.

"I... I don't know!" Gabriella said helplessly. "But please... don't tell anyone... we'll figure this out!"

"Fine, but please make sure he doesn't get hurt too much... I can't bear to live with the guilt of not believing you if he gets seriously hurt," Taylor whimpered.

"Oh, come here, Tay," Gabriella said, opening out her arms as Taylor stepped in and embraced her long lost friend, but the air changed as the office room went silent.

Gabriella and Taylor both jumped when they heard the door's lock click and the doorknob twist open. Their eyes filled with fear as the door creaked open and three footsteps echoed through the halls.

"Ladies," Jack Bolton said, placing his hands on his hips and looking down at the two girls, who were now shrinking back and leaning on each other for support. "What have we here? A little friendship reunion?"

They stayed silent.

"Very well then, we might have to make this reunion a little more interesting," he smirked, rubbing his palms together slyly.

He suddenly lunged forward and grabbed both of the collars and pulled them into the office, locking the door so they couldn't escape easily. He threw them against the wall and they both shrieked in shock. Immediately, Gabriella noticed that Troy was sprawled under Jack's desk, in an unhealthy unconscious state. He had blood spilling out if his head and nose and cuts, bruises and scratches all over his bare chest and hands.

"It's time for the deed to finally be completed. Troy's whole life will finally be ruined with out you in it," he said, jerking his finger towards Gabriella. "And you," he pointed at Taylor. "Well, we mustn't have any snitching witnesses," he grinned evilly.

"You won't get away with this!" Taylor said boldly.

Jack feigned shock. "Oh, I won't? Young lady, you must be mistaken. Of course I will get away with this. After all, I got away with killing my idiotic brother and his slutty wife. Stupid people."

Taylor's mouth dropped open as she stared at him incredulously. He was the one who killed Troy's parents? And he was hiding all this behind a facade the whole time?

"No," she muttered under her breath.

"Oh, yes I did," Jack chuckled. "Do you want the same to happen for you? I think not."

Taylor shook her head furiously.

"Well then, don't tell anyone. It's as simple as that," Jack said, getting closer to the girls and bending down so he was at their eye level. "Let's not be snitches, okay?"

"Okay," Taylor whimpered, scared stiff by the amount of evil that was laced into the man's sadistic whisper.

Gabriella just nodded and stayed silent. She didn't trust herself to speak, otherwise she might say something that would get her even more hurt than she already was.

Out of the corner of her eye, Gabriella saw a hint of movement from Troy. His eyes fluttered open, but he close them quickly when the light blinded him. As he squinted them, he glanced around the room, wondering where he was, but then he saw Gabriella and Taylor, caged up by Jack. He immediately became more alert and sat up, being careful not to hit his head on the desk. He briefly caught Gabriella's eye and saw how scared she was right now. He shot her back a look of determination, hoping that she would at least have a little faith in him.

"And what do you think you're doing, Jack?" Troy spat, coming out from under the table.

Taylor jumped in shock at Troy's voice, but calmed down when she was that it wasn't another attacker.

"Troy, you're finally awake," Jack said sarcastically. "Pity, though. I was just about to finish the job."

Troy stepped closer to Jack as Jack looked down, dangerously, at him. They were almost nose to nose when Troy said, "And just what defines 'finishing your job?" he snarled. "You touch those girls and I promise I will kill you."

Jack laughed, "But then you will be a villain like me. You don't want that, do you?"

"Whatever it takes, Jack," Troy said. "Whatever it takes."

Jack stepped back and grinned triumphantly, even though he hadn't won... yet. It would be soon - his victory, very soon.

"You're dismissed now, Troy. Take your weaklings with you and make sure I never see their ugly faces again. YOU HEAR ME?" Jack yelled.

"Yes, Jack," Troy rolled his eyes. "Loud and clear."

"Good," Jack smirked. "NOW GET OUT!"

Troy motioned for Taylor and Gabriella to follow him and he led them into the gym, shutting the door softly behind him.

"Okay, I know you're probably scared to death right now, but I hope I can assure you that I'll never let him lay a finger on you again," he said, mostly to Taylor because he knew Gabriella trusted him.

They didn't answer until Taylor spoke up, "Troy..." she whispered. "Is it true? Is it true that Jack killed your parents and you didn't do any of it?"

"Yeah," Troy sighed. "I was only one year old at the time. I was sleeping."

"Oh, Troy," Taylor said, breaking down into sobs while Gabriella hugged her. "I'm so sorry! I've been such a bitch to you all these years! I understand if you never forgive me, but all I ask is for you to at least try!"

"Calm down, Taylor," Troy said, kneeling down besides her and rubbing her back. "It's all good. You're already forgiven. Only three of us students know the truth, so there's no point in hating on you - me, you and Kitten."

Gabriella silently glared at Troy, but still continued to comfort her friend. Taylor looked up, drying her tears and raised an eyebrow, "Kitten?"

Troy smiled, seeing that Taylor was going to turn back to normal. "That's my nickname for Gabriella."

"But why Kitten?" Taylor asked.

Gabriella rolled her eyes," Because apparently I'm cute, playful and sweet."

"Aww," Taylor said, sniffing. "That's so cute. Are you guys dating? Because if you are, you totally make a cute couple an I'll support you all the way."

Gabriella laughed lightly, but then shut down her friend's comment. "No, Tay. We're not dating."

"Really?" Taylor said, raising her eyebrows. "That's a disappointment."

 _Ring!_

Taylor jumped off of the bleachers and started running out of the gym, "I'm going to be late for class!" she panicked," sprinting off as fast as he could, leaving Troy and Gabriella alone in the gym.  
Gabriella softly touched Troy's bruised face and ran her fingers down his scratched chest. She sighed, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," Troy said, "I'm completely fine."

Gabriella looked up at him, doubtfully, biting her lip.

"Come here," Troy said, inviting her into his arms.

Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy's torso and Troy wrapped his around her upper body. Gabriella nearly melted into Troy's hug. God, she could get used to being in this position.

"Kitten?" Troy said.

"Yeah?"

"I'm really glad you're okay," Troy said, making a Gabriella smiled softly.

"Me too, Troy," Gabriella mumbled. "Me too... and this time, I really mean it."  
Troy kissed Gabriella's forehead and squeezed her tighter, letting her know that he was always there for her when she needed him. And that's where they stayed long after the bell, not caring for the world if the teachers sent out the police to search for them.

It was just like... a fairy tale.

HSM

Taylor took out her diary from her bag and opened it up to the page where she hid numerous people's phone numbers. She ran her finger down the list, stopping her finger at the one she was looking for. Then, she grabbed her cell phone and dialed in the number, waiting for the person to answer.

"Hello?" the other line said.

"Chad," Taylor said. "I need to talk to you… preferably in private."

"Can't, Taylor," Chad replied. "I'm practicing basketball."

"At school?" Taylor questioned. "I thought practice was already over."

"In my backyard."

Taylor rolled her eyes.

"Well, this is really important," she said desperately. "It's about… Troy."

"Is this another one of your ploys to split Gabriella and Troy up, because if it is, then I'm…"

"No, Chad, it's not," Taylor interrupted him. "I fully support Troy and Gabriella's relationship, whether they're dating or not…"

"But yesterday…"

"Please come to the park on Bird Street. I'll meet you there in 10 minutes," Taylor said shortly, hanging up straight after and not giving Chad a chance to argue.

Let's see how this was going to go.

HSM

Chad spotted Taylor leaning up against a tree in the park, while she read and typed something into her cell phone. He ran up to her, grabbing her attention as she shut her phone.

"Taylor, you know I don't have all the time in the world, so can you please at least give me a choice next time?" he asked.

"Once you hear what I'm about to say, you'll never regret coming," Taylor insisted.

"Fine," he said reluctantly. "Shoot."

Taylor began to recount the story, "Today, I was heading towards Coach Bolton's office to tell him my plan B, but as I neared the office, I heard some strange… fighting and yelling noises. I didn't know what was happening so I looked into the window and saw something that was truly horrifying…"

"What?" Chad asked, impatiently concerned.

Taylor took a deep breath and tried not to let tears fall from her eyes.

"Coach Bolton was abusing Troy…"

Chad's eyes widened and shook his head. "No… that can't be true."

"But it is!" Taylor protested. "I saw it with my own eyes!"

Chad sighed, "Yeah, I believe you, but I just can't imagine… Coach Bolton doing that!"

"I know," Taylor agreed. "It's so… unexpected of him… but you have to promise not to tell a single soul, otherwise Troy will end up as an orphan if Coach gets arrested."

"Stop calling him 'Coach'," Chad spat. "He doesn't deserve that title."

"Okay," Taylor replied smally. "But… I just don't know what we should do now. I mean, we still have half a year until Troy turns 18… and I don't want Troy to live like that for so long…"

"There's not much we can do," Chad said, looking at the ground. "We can only support him as much as possible; help him feel wanted and loved."

"There's another thing, Chad," Taylor started. "Gabi's mom recently died. This morning she was acting all loopy and weird. Do you think there's something wrong with her? I mean, who is really excited when their parents are both dead? No one!"

"I think we should support both Troy and Gabriella as much as we can, especially emotional support. That's really important," Chad said thoughtfully.

There was silence for a while as they thought.

"I talked to Troy some time ago. I think he has some trust issues. He thought I was faking being friendly," Chad said. "I thought I sounded genuine enough."

"Convince him that you're trying to be his friend sincerely," Taylor told him.

"Should I tell him that… I know… about him and…" Chad trailed off.

"If you do," Taylor said. "Make sure you say it in a way that doesn't scare him off into thinking you're going to tell someone about it. Make sure it's not at a time when he's tired or grumpy, especially after basketball."

"Will do," Chad nodded. "Alright, I've gotta go now. The mom's ordered me to be at home for dinner now."

Before he could turn to leave, Taylor surprised him with a friendly hug, "Thanks, Chad… for listening, you know. I don't think anyone else would listen like that."

"No problem, Taylor," Chad said, wrapping his arms around her after recovering from his shock. "I'm glad you told me. I'll try to help Troy and Gabriella as much as possible."

HSM

The next day, Troy picked up Gabriella from her house brought her to school. Again, she was happily wearing her cat helmet. She loved how it warmed her head, just like Troy's hugs warmed her body. It was perfect.

When they stopped in the car park, Gabriella hopped off first and skipped into school like she had done the previous day. Seeing this as his chance to have a private conversation with Troy, Chad emerged from his hiding spot behind the bushes and tapped Troy on the shoulder. Troy finished putting his helmet onto the handlebar and turned to Chad.

"Hey, man," Chad said, smiling friendlily. "How's it going?"

Troy narrowed his eyes, "Why are you talking to me?"

"Is it a crime to talk to one of my friends?" Chad asked.

Troy raised an eyebrow at the word 'friends'. He certainly wouldn't consider them as 'friends', after all, they barely talked.

"No, but why so sudden?" Troy questioned.

"I just wanted to see how you're going," Chad shrugged. "I haven't talked to you in ages," he said, exaggerating the word 'ages'.

Troy didn't reply.

"So," Chad began. "How are you and Gabriella? You two seem to be getting a little... cozy..."

"If you're implying dating, then you're wrong, but Gabriella's amazing," Troy said. "I do like her a lot?"

"You should make a move, man," Chad advised. "I've seen the way she looks at you. She likes you too."

Troy narrowed his eyes again, "Have you been watching us?"

"No!" Chad defended a little too quickly. "I mean... maybe, but not to the extent of spying. I see you two around during school. It's inevitable that I see you together... talking."

"Well, we're not dating," Troy said. "Anyway, it's not really any of your business."

Chad held up his hands in surrender, "Yeah, yeah, I know. I just want you to know that I'll always be here if you want to talk."

"Thanks, Chad," Troy smiled for the first time. "I appreciate it."

Chad smiled, seeing that his friendliness had helped Troy to warm up to him, "No problem, man. No problem."

HSM

Troy and Gabriella walked into the school's cafeteria together and lined up in the lunch line.

"Pizza, delicious," Gabriella said.

"Are you positive you should be eating this?" Troy asked her.

Gabriella scowled, "Rude. Maybe you should ask that to yourself."

Troy smirked, "That's not a good comeback, Kitten."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "I'm working on them, okay. Soon I'll be dominating the world with my awesome comebacks!"

"Don't be so optimistic. I'm sure that won't happen," Troy replied.

"Whatever," Gabriella said, taking her food tray and finding a spot for them to sit.

Troy joined her shortly and watched her curiously as she began to devour the pizza. Gabriella felt his eyes on her and she looked up.

"What?" she asked with her mouth full.

"You eat like a pig," Troy commented, taking a more... polite bite of his pizza.

"It's pizza. It's yummy. What else should I do?" Gabriella asked, wiping her mouth with her hand.

"Maybe you could eat it a bit more..."

"Hey guys!" Taylor interrupted, smiling, and sitting down next to Gabriella. "It is my great pleasure to join you for lunch today."

"Hey Tay!" Gabriella greeted. "How's life treating you?"

"Oh, it's been very good to me today, and you?"

"Eh, I'm satisfied, except this asshole over here," Gabriella said, glaring at Troy. "Called me fat."

"At least it was indirect," Troy defended.

"Well, you still did it," Gabriella huffed, crossing her arms.

"Troy, did you actually?" Taylor asked in disbelief.

"I told you, it was hardly indirect. I just asked her if she was sure she should be eating the pizza," Troy said.

"Troy," Taylor started. "Rule number one, never, I repeat, never question whether a girl should be eating what they're eating, as it can lead to implying that they are fat. This can dramatically hurt the girl's feelings and even result in a low self-esteem."

"So what's Gabriella gonna do about it?" Troy asked, expressionless.

Taylor was shocked. She didn't know what to think anymore. Why had the caring, loving and sensitive Troy disappear and become and offensive, insensitive jerk? Where had the old Troy gone?

"Okay, then," Taylor said. "Rule number two, always comfort a girl that is upset. You never want to leave them sad, depressed, or ashamed of themselves. This can also lead to a low self-esteem if they think no one cares for them."

"Why does this only apply to girls?" Troy challenged. "What about guys? We can be sensitive too."

Taylor sighed, "Rule number three. Never compare girls to guys. Girls have completely different personalities and ways of thinking to guys."

"But all girls have different personalities," Troy argued.

"Rule number four, always be considerate of all girls' feelings. Doesn't matter if they're girls like me or Gabriella or Sharpay. It doesn't matter. This also toes into rule number five, which is to never underestimate how sensitive..."

"Tay," Gabriella said. "Troy's just messing with you. You didn't need to explain all that."

Taylor opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it and just nodded. Troy smiled. It was always fun to mess with people, especially when it was a hassle to them.

 _Ring!_

"It's class time already?" Gabriella asked. "We've only been here for like... 10 minutes!"

"Time flies when you're having fun," Taylor winked, gesturing to Troy.

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Will you please stop!" she hissed. "You know how far our relationship goes."

Taylor coughed, "Soulmates," she coughed again and Gabriella face palmed.

"Keep going like that and I'll set up and arranged marriage for you and Chad Danforth," Gabriella spat, not knowing that Taylor was actually on friendly terms with Chad.

"You know, I think Chad would actually like you," Troy mused. "You seem like the type of girl that would discipline him well and keep him in line."

"Do I?" Taylor asked. "I'll have to think about that one, but I'm sure he would never like me like that."

"Keep positive," Troy said. "Maybe you might be lucky enough to have someone ask you on a date."

Taylor's mouth fell open and Gabriella slapped his chest, "Rude!"

Troy smirked cockily, "I majored in that, so don't blame me if I actually use my skills."

"He doesn't mean it," Gabriella whispered to Taylor, who nodded.

"But cocky much?"

HSM

Troy laid on Gabriella's bed while Gabriella was at her desk, logging onto her laptop. She yawned.

"I am so tired!"

"Then go to sleep early," Troy said. "You've quit 2 of your jobs, so you should savour the amount of sleeping time you have now."

"You should come with me I day care," Gabriella said. "The kids would love you."

"Sure they would," Troy said sarcastically.

"Oh, don't be so harsh on yourself," Gabriella said. "You haven't even tried."

"I'm not being harsh on myself," Troy replied. "I'm just saying the truth. The truth hurts."

"It's not typical of a person to say that to himself," Gabriella stated. "Only humble people do," she continued, directing that to Troy.

"Thank you. Has Yellow Ocean Resort replied yet?" Troy asked, rolling his eyes at the name.

Gabriella clicked on her inbox and nodded, "Yes, I hope they said yes."

 _Thank you, Gabriella, for contacting us._

 _We are quite unpleased to inform you that you are too underage to buy an apartment for yourself, but we are pleased to say that if you have any friends that will turn 18 in half a year or less, we will be happy to allow them to be your 'guardian'. Please reply to this email if you meet those requirements. If you can't, thank you for contacting us anyway._

 _Thanks,_

 _Yellow Ocean Resort._

Gabriella placed her hand on her calming heart, "Way to scare me!"

"Do you meet those requirements?" Troy asked, raising an eyebrow.

Gabriella laughed.

"I'll just get you to pay," she joked, but then turned serious. "But seriously, can you be my 'guardian'?"

"That's so weird," Troy commented. "Your 'guardian'…"

"It's the only thing I can do," Gabriella said, her eyes begging him hopefully. "Plus, I'll pay for everything! All you have to do is probably just to state your birthdate and boom! Done!"

"Fine," Troy said.

 _Hi Yellow Ocean Resort,_

 _I am writing to tell you that I do have a friend that is turning 18 in less than six months. How should he contact you to say that he is my 'guardian?'_

 _From Gabriella._

"I'm very formal," Gabriella said sarcastically. "And I totally know how to write these emails."

"Yeah," Troy said. "So formal…"

"So what now?" she asked.

"We wait."

For the next few minutes, Troy and Gabriella sat there in silence, as if they were literally waiting for a reply to appear in Gabriella's inbox.

"Can we do something?" Gabriella asked, finally.

"Like what?"

"Something fun."

"What's your definition of fun?" Troy asked.

"I don't know," Gabriella replied. "Karaoke?"

Troy smiled a bit, "No, no, no, definitely not karaoke."

"Why not?" Gabriella pouted.

"Karaoke's are not my thing," Troy said. "I'm not good at them. I'll be having voice cracks every time I have to sing a middle C."

"I heard you while we were recording our project for music. You didn't have any voice cracks and that was kind of live," Gabriella said. "Come on, you need to step out of your comfort zone a little. All I see is Troy – the boy who doesn't talk to people and disappears at lunch times. Try something fun!"

"Whatever," Troy rolled his eyes. "Let's do it."

"That's the spirit," Gabriella said, grabbing Troy's hand and dragging him down the stairs as he reluctantly followed. "Hold on, I'm just going to get… YouTube up."

"YouTube?"

"Oh my god, you are such a millennial," Gabriella muttered.

"Don't blame me. I haven't been exposed to a lot of things," Troy replied.

"Which is why you have to step out of your comfort zone and discover new things that you like, hate, or feel neutral about," Gabriella said. "It's all part of life.

"Okay, Mom," Troy said, rolling his eyes. "What song?"

"Breaking Free," Gabriella said. "Relevant to our discussion about breaking free of your comfort zone."

"It had to be that one," Troy said, rolling his eyes once again. He seemed to be doing that a lot today.

"Yes, it did," Gabriella said. "I like to choose songs that relate to me or other people. They make… sense that way."

"Okay, whatever you say."

The intro piano began to play.

 _We're soaring, flying  
There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach  
If we're trying  
So we're breaking free._

 _You know the world can see us  
In a way that's different than who we are.  
Creating space between us  
Till we're separate hearts._

 _But your faith it gives me strength,  
Strength to believe.._

 _We're breaking free!  
We're soaring, flying  
There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach  
If we're trying  
Yeah we're breaking free  
Oh we're breaking free, ooh_

 _Can you feel it building?  
Like a wave the ocean just can't control  
Connected by a feeling  
Ooh in our very souls. (very soul)_

 _Rising till it lifts us up  
So everyone can see._

 _We're breaking free!  
We're soaring, flying  
There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach  
If we're trying  
Yeah we're breaking free  
Oh we're breaking free, ooh._

 _Running, climbing, to get to the place to be all that we can be.  
Now's the time,  
So we're breaking free.  
We're breaking free, ooh yeah_

 _More than hope, more than faith,  
This is truth, this is fate,  
And together we see it coming.  
More than you, more than me  
Not a want but a need  
Both of us, breaking free!_

 _Soaring, flying  
There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach.  
If we're trying  
Yeah we're breaking free (breaking free)_

 _We're running, ooh climbing to get to that place to be all that we can be.  
Now's the time (now's the time)  
So we're breaking free. Oh we're breaking free_

 _You know the world can see us  
In a way that's different than who we are._

A stranger would be amazed at the vocal abilities of these two young people. A bystander would be surprised at the amount of chemistry these two young people had. An outsider would think that these two young people were in love.

Truth was, Gabriella _was_ starting to feel something as she and Troy danced and sung together. It was like the music… somehow joined them together with one powerful and magical force. The way Troy smiled at her… oh, it was full of joy and happiness, and did someone say love? Maybe fate was real. Maybe fate did bring people together.

Gabriella smiled at Troy as the song ended, but the edges of her lips faltered as she studied the look in Troy's eyes. She didn't frown or become sad, but she was… confused. Why was Troy looking at her like that? It looked like… joy, peace, comfort and maybe even… love, all mixed into his bright, blue eyes. What a combination!

Finally, Gabriella's eyes diverted to her laptop screen, which was about to auto play the next video. She rushed over to it and hit cancel before it could stand. She closed her laptop, wondering whether if she looked back at Troy, it would be awkward. She decided to do it anyway, seeing that there was nothing else to do.

To break the mood, she asked Troy if he was hungry. He nodded slowly and Gabriella walked into the kitchen, leaving Troy, still in his dazed, 'in love' state of mind. He shook his head out of his trance and followed Gabriella into the kitchen, where she was already half way done with her cooking.

"Smells good," Troy said. "What are you making?"

"Pasta," Gabriella replied. "One of my favourites."

"Sounds good."

HSM

"What are you thinking?" Troy asked Gabriella as they ate dinner together.

"Just about life," she replied, popping pieces of pasta into her mouth with her fork. "You know… like how it's gonna be after this… 'phase'."

"Are you worried?" Troy asked.

She shrugged in reply, "As ready as someone, who's an orphan, should be."

"What do you plan to do?" Troy asked.

She shrugged again, "Maybe get a higher paying job. I don't know, all jobs for my age are really low paying. They don't expect teenagers to be experienced or responsible enough."

"That's a typical boss for you," Troy said. "But you could always get training in something. What are you studying to be?"

"Something that I can push myself to be," Gabriella replied, thoughtfully. "I've always loved the thought of becoming a doctor… or a nurse," she directed her eyes back to Troy. "I really want to go to Stanford University…"

"But?" Troy asked, knowing there was some sort of obstacle.

"I probably won't have enough money," Gabriella concluded, looking away sadly.

"Hey," Troy said, making her look at him again. "There'll always be a way for you to reach your dreams, you know. Maybe one particular boss will like you and promote you or something. Don't doubt it."

Gabriella smiled a little.

"Thanks, Mr. Inspirational," she said.

"I delight in being called that," Troy rolled his eyes and leaned back into his chair, crossing his arms.

"Nice to know… Mr. Inspirational."


End file.
